Bombs Away!
by Vgn Golley
Summary: Growing up on Gaimon's island, Asher D. Willis had wish nothing more than to leave and explore the world as a pirate, and his wish may come true when the straw hats showed up and offered him to join their crew. Now watch as he becomes the new bodyguard for the Straw Hat Pirates! (Currently in One Piece: The Movie)
1. Strawhat's new bodyguard

**Hey, guys! Welcome to my first ever One Piece story, and my first anime story overall. I hope you guys enjoy the story...anyway I don't own anything, except for my OC'S.**

**NOW LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY!**

{Season 1, Episode 1: Welcome to Gaimon's Island/Recruiting a Bomb Man}

"Cottontail! Where are you?" A 16-year-old boy yells while searching through a forest as he scratched his head in thought.

The 16-year-old boy has a slim muscular build with long curly black hair that reaches to his neck, a blue eye with the other one being completely white, and freckles. He wears a long-sleeved blue shirt with a black eyepatch, a red bandana, black pants, and no shoes. His name is Asher D. Willis.

"Come on out, boy! Old man Gaimon says that its lunchtime!" Asher says as he looked through some bushes, and smiled. "There you are!" Asher exclaimed, spotting a winged-lemur that seems to be made out of cotton, eating a couple mushrooms. "What are you doing all the way out here, boy? Found something interesting to eat?" Asher asked as Cottontail nodded and swallowed his food.

_"I smelt something around here, and I found these delicious mushrooms. Want to try some?"_ Cottontail asked as Asher nodded.

"Yeah, sure," Asher says as he was about to grab the mushrooms when suddenly he noticed something odd about them as he took a few steps back. "Um, buddy, where did you found these mushrooms?" He asked as Cottontail pointed behind him.

_"Over there, why?"_ Cottontail says as Asher looks to where he was pointing and nodded.

"Yep, just as I thought. Those are poisonous mushrooms, I can't eat those. I'm pretty sure I will die if I tried." Asher says as Cottontail shrugs.

_"Your loss,"_ Cottontail says as he was about to eat more when suddenly he perked up as his ears twitched.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Asher asked as huge footsteps echoed across the forest, and a mighty roar rang out. "Oh, he's here early today. Bad timing, though, since I'm hungry, and everything." Asher mumbles as a giant, 30-foot creature that seems to be a mix between a gorilla and elephant appeared in front of them and roared as Cottontail flew away.

_"Good luck!"_ Cottontail yells as Asher rolls his eyes playfully.

"Coward," Asher says, before grinning up to the giant monster as he cracked his knuckles. "Alright, Gorillaphant! I'm kind of in a hurry here, so how about we wrap things up!" Asher says as the Gorillaphant glared at him and charged. "Alright! Let's do this!" Asher says as he runs at the Gorillaphant and leaps up.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Punch!" **Asher threw a punch at the giant monster's chest, and the moment his fist touched the hybrid's chest. A massive explosion occurred as Gorillaphant roared in pain and was sent flying into the forest.

_"Nice punch." _Cottontail complimented, flying back as he landed on Asher's shoulder. _"__You sent him flying even further than yesterday."_

"Thanks, but it wasn't that hard of a fight. That guy is getting easier to defeat each day." Asher says, rather somberly as he walked away.

_"You have been fighting this guy for ten years straight, so it makes sense why,"_ Cottontail says as he glanced over at Asher and noticed that his owner looks a little depressed. _"Hey, are you alright?"_ He asked as Asher sighs.

"I'm fine, it's just that I'm getting kind of bored of fighting the same monsters every day. Especially if they don't give me a challenge anymore," Asher says as he sat down on a cliff and stared out into the ocean. "Sometimes, I wish I can leave this island, you know. Explore the world, fulfill my dream, and become a pirate like my old man." Asher says with a small smile on his face as Cottontail sat on his lap.

_"So, you wish to become a pirate and explore the world, huh? You do realize that outside of this island lays a dangerous place, filled with powerful marines and rival pirates that can kill you in an instant, right?" _He asked as Asher grins.

"I know, and I can't wait to fight them all!" Asher yells with his body trembling in anticipation as Cottontail sweatdropped.

_"What am I going to do with you, kid?"_ Cottontail tiredly says as he looked out into the ocean, and noticed something in the distance. _"Hey, is that a boat?"_ Asher instantly sat up, startling the small lemur as he squinted his eyes and noticed that it had a pirate flag.

"Ooh, it has a pirate flag! That must mean their pirates! Come on! Let's go tell, old man Gaimon!" Asher says as he runs off. Running faster than a regular human could as Cottontail flew after him.

_"Hey, wait for me!" _Cottontail says as he tries to catch up with the kid, who was leaving a trail of dust as the young teen laughs joyfully.

* * *

We then cue in the middle of the ocean where we see 3 teenagers sailing together on two boats as one of the teenagers was busy sowing a straw hat. The teenager is an 18-year-old girl with a slim figure, short orange hair, and brown eyes. She wore a white/blue striped shirt with an orange mini-skirt and brown heeled high boots. Her name is Nami.

"Here, Luffy. I fixed your hat." Nami says, finished sowing the hat as a teenage boy eagerly grabbed it from her hands. The teenage boy is 17-years-old with shaggy black hair, round black eyes, a scar with two stitches underneath his left eye, and a slim muscular build. He wears a red sleeveless vest, short blue trousers with cuffs, and sandals. His name is Monkey D. Luffy.

"It's fixed!" Luffy excitedly yelled while lifting the straw hat in the air as he laughs.

"I just mended the cuts..." Nami says, sweatdropping a bit by Luffy's excitement.

"You did a great job fixing my hat, Nami." Luffy complimented while poking his hat as Nami blushed a bit from his praise.

"Thanks. But try not to poke it too much. Otherwise, it will break," Nami says as Luffy nodded rapidly.

"Right, right, thanks," Luffy says just as he accidentally pokes a hole in his hat. "Oops."

"DIDN'T YOU LISTEN TO WHAT I JUST SAID!" Nami screams, poking him in the forehead with a needle as Luffy yelps.

"Stop poking me in the head with that needle, it hurts!"

"It's useless to hit you since your made of rubber, so I have to use a needle!" Nami yelled back.

"Ah, that makes sense," Luffy says, following her logic.

"You guys are too noisy! I can't sleep with all of this noise." An older teenager says while resting on the boat as he yawns.

The older teenager is 19-years-old with a muscular build, lightly tanned skin, and chopped green hair. He wears a plain white shirt with three buttons undone at the collar, three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe, a black bandana wrapped around his left bicep, and black trousers tucked inside black boots. He also carries three swords that are bundled up with a green haramaki over his right hip. His name is Roronoa Zoro.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Nami! Give me some food!" Luffy demanded as Zoro nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, share some of your food with us," Zoro says as Nami huffs.

"Oh, please! You need to be more prepared! You don't bring food or water, and you dare to go out at sea?" Nami says as Luffy got bored and looked around as he saw an island in the distance. "It's a miracle that you two have survived up to now," Nami says, handing Zoro a loaf of bread as he ate it.

"There's always a way," Zoro says with a shrug as Nami sweatdropped.

"Hey! There's an island!" Luffy says as Nami took out her binoculars and looked at the island.

"Hmmm, that island is no good! It's unpopulated, so it's useless! Let's keep going!" Nami says, putting down her binoculars as she turned to the boys and was surprised to see them sailing towards the island on their boat.

"Let's see if we can find someone who would join us there...and let's look for food too," Luffy says, rowing the boat as Zoro dozed off. "You know, Nami was right. We really are unprepared."

"WAIT FOR ME!" Nami screamed rowing after the two.

* * *

"Hey! Old man Gaimon!" Asher screamed, running into a little shack as Cottontail flew in by the window.

"What is it, kid? Can't you see I'm trying to make dinner?" A short man says, stirring up a pot as he gave the kid an annoyed look. The man has a green afro hairstyle, a black beard, a unibrow, a chubby face, and a big mouth. But the weirdest thing about him was that his entire body was stuck inside a treasure chest with only his head, hands, and feet sticking out. His name is Gaimon.

"Cottontail spotted a ship nearby, but it's not just any ship, it's a pirate ship!"

"What!? A pirate ship!?" Gaimon screams as Asher nodded rapidly.

"Yep. It was kind of small, though, so I don't think there are many people." Asher says as Gaimon sighs in relief.

"Good, then it will be easy to get rid of them," Gaimon says as Asher groans.

"Do we have to do the stupid 'Forest Guardian' routine again?"

"Yes, son," Gaimon says as Asher rolls his eyes, and leaned against the wall.

"I don't know why we can't just talk to them instead? I'm sure they will be nice people." Asher says rather naively as Gaimon gave him a stern look.

"Son, if there is one thing I learned in my life as a pirate, is that there is no such thing as a nice pirate. If your not careful with these people, they can kill slit your throat or worse!" Gaimon warns his son as Asher rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything as he knew that arguing with his father would be pointless.

"Yes, I know, father. You gave me the same speech for all my life now." Asher says as Gaimon gave him a look, and he sighs. "Fine. I promise I won't talk with the pirates or make contact with them," Asher says as Gaimon nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Now come and help your old man scare off some pirates." Gaimon says, walking off as Asher grumbles, but reluctantly followed him as Cottontail flew off.

"We've reached the isolated island!" Luffy screams as he and his crew landed on the beach of the 'isolated' island.

"There's nothing here but a forest," Nami says as she looks around with a disinterested look. "As I said, this is an unpopulated island! It would be weird if you found someone for the crew here!" Nami says as Luffy turned to Zoro.

"Hey! Zoro, come over here!" Luffy yells, before blinking as he noticed that his first mate was sleeping on the ship. "Oh, he's sleeping," Luffy says as he was about to wake him up, but Nami stops him.

"Let him sleep. He's still injured from the stab wound that Buggy and Cabaji gave him." Nami says as Luffy nodded.

"You're right. Well, let's go."

"Go where?" Nami asked as Luffy pointed at the forest.

"Towards the forest, of course. You never know, there might be people there."

"There's no one here, but poisonous snakes and wild animals!" Nami says just as a small creature popped out, and the teens stared at it curiously as they noticed that it seems to be a mix between a fox and a rooster. "...What is that?" Nami asked with a sweatdrop as Luffy spotted another creature.

"Hey, look! A weird rabbit!" Luffy says, grabbing a creature that seems to be a mix between a snake and a rabbit.

"It's weird, alright, but I think that its a mutant snake."

"How about that lion?" Luffy says, pointing at a creature that seems to be a mix between a pig and a lion.

"It looks more like a mutant pig to me, and why are you only pointing out the strange part about the animals, but not the obvious ones!?" Nami asked, annoyed just as a small explosion occurred above them as they covered their heads. "What was that?!" Nami asked as Luffy shrugs.

"Don't know. A cannonball, maybe?"

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" A loud voice boomed out across the forest.

"Huh? What was that sound?" Luffy muttered as Nami looks around anxiously.

"Who are you?"

"Me? I am...the Guardian of the Forest!" The voice screamed as more explosions rang out.

"Where are all those explosions coming from?" Nami asked to herself as we zoom out, and we see Asher and Gaimon hiding behind a bush as the young teen lazily threw shurikens in the air, and they exploded.

"Am I done now?" Asher asked Gaimon, who shushes him as he cleared his throat.

"Those come from me! As the Guardian of the Forest, I can blow things up just by looking at them, and unless you want to be blown up into pieces, I suggest you leave this island at once!"

"Aw! But, I'm not done exploring yet!" Luffy whines while pouting.

"W-What!? Exploring!? You are pirates, aren't you?" Gaimon asked as Luffy nodded.

"Yes."

"Why did he ask that?" Nami asked to herself.

"Oh, then I guess Asher wasn't lying," Gaimon says as Luffy perks up at the name.

"Who's Asher?" Luffy asked.

"U-Uh, no one important!" Gaimon says as Asher gave him an offended look.

"Hey!"

"Shut up, boy!"

"Who are you talking too?" Nami asked.

"No one!" Gaimon says, before turning to Asher. "Just shut up and keep throwing more bombs!" Gaimon ordered as Asher rolled his eyes, and throws more shurikens bombs. A few feet away from them, we see Gorillaphant walking across the forest as he heard a familiar bang nearby, and he grinned. Realizing that his enemy was close by as he made his way towards the sounds of the explosions. "Listen, well, pirates! Don't take a step further to the forest or else you will face...the judgment of the Guardian of the Forest!" Gaimon screamed as Nami gained a nervous look.

"What is he talking about?" Nami asked as Luffy shrugs.

"Don't know. What a weird guy."

"What did you just say, you straw hat brat!?" Gaimon yelled with an annoyed look as Asher laughed. "And you! How dare you laugh at your father?" Gaimon screamed as Asher laughed harder.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Nami asked, hearing Asher laughing as Luffy nodded.

"Yeah. I think the voice is coming from over there." Luffy says, pointing at Gaimon and Asher's location as the middle-aged man panicked.

"Hey! I told you not to come any closer!" He screamed, but Luffy ignores him as he took a step forward. "That's it! Face the judgment of the Guardian of the Forest!" Gaimon screamed, pulling out a gun as Asher's one eye widen in horror.

"Wait! Dad, no!" Asher screamed as Gaimon pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew in the air as it hits Luffy's chest.

Elsewhere, we see Cottontail relaxing on top of a tree, eating mushrooms as he looks down, and spits out his food in shock as he saw Gorrilaphant walking through the forest. Heading straight towards the group as Cottontail quickly took flight and flew towards his owner, hoping that it won't be too late. Nami shrieked in horror as Asher gave his dad an angry look, and was about to yell at him. When suddenly, the bullet that was in Luffy's chest bounced off his skin harmlessly and flew off into the distance.

"...Huh!?" Asher and Gaimon exclaimed as Nami sighs in relief.

"What a shock! That was a bullet, right?" She asked Luffy as he nodded. "So, bullets...can't hurt you?"

"Yeah, but I still don't like being shot at."

"How did you do that?!" Asher asked, coming out of the bushes as the teens turned to him.

"Huh? The Forest Guardian is really just a kid?" Nami says in disbelief as Gaimon popped out of the bushes.

"Asher, wait!"

"Ehhhhh!? A boxman? Hey, box guy! You wouldn't happen to be a boxer, right?" Luffy asked as Gaimon was about to retort when suddenly Cottontail appeared as he landed on the ground.

"What is that thing? This day keeps getting weirder and weirder." Nami says as Luffy looks at Cottontail excitedly.

"Oh, cool! It's a winged-lemur made out of cotton!" Luffy yells as Asher smiled and picked up his pet.

"His name is Cottontail, and he's my pet/best friend," Asher says before looking down at his pet. "Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you flew off to eat?" He asked Cottontail as Nami stared at him weirdly.

"Is he talking to his pet as if it can understand him?" Nami asked with a sweatdropped.

_"I was, but I had to spot eating when I noticed Gorillaphant heading straight towards here,"_ Cottontail says as Asher raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What does that weakling want?" Asher asked, and before anyone can react, Gorillaphant appeared out of the forest as he roared and pounded his fist on his chest.

"Aaah!" Nami screamed in fright as Luffy stared at it with stars in his eyes.

"Whoa! It's a giant elephant!" Luffy says excitedly before his eyes widen as he saw Gorillaphant approaching Nami. "Nami! Look out!" Luffy screamed as he was about to stretch out his arm to grab Nami, but stops as Asher suddenly appears in front of Nami.

"Whoa, he's fast," Luffy says to himself as Asher glares up at giant hybrid.

"Don't you know its rude to gang up against someone like that? I think its time that I teach you some manners." Asher says as he bends down and leaps at the creature as he reared back his leg.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Kick!" **Asher throws a mighty kick at Gorillaphant's chest, his leg detonating upon impact as the giant monster was sent flying across the forest.

"Whoa!" Luffy says, amazed by what he saw as Cottontail landed on Asher's shoulder.

_"Nice kick."_ Cottontail complimented as Asher grins.

"Thanks, buddy," Asher says to Cottontail before turning to Nami as he smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, miss. I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson for now. He won't come back for a while." Asher says as Nami stared at him, astounded.

"What are you!?" Nami asked as Asher grins.

"I'm a Bomb Man," Asher says as Nami stared at him, confused

"Bomb Man?" She asked as he nodded.

"Yep. When I was a kid, I ate the Bomu Bomu fruit. I can make any part of my body blow up like a bomb without hurting myself. I can also make anything I touch explosive. For example." Asher says with his hands glowing pink as he pulls out a shuriken, and covered the small weapon with a pink aura as he then throws it, and the shuriken exploded mid-air. "See?" Asher said as Nami stared at him with a blank look.

_"Oh, no. Not another monster."_ Nami thought to herself as Asher turned to Luffy.

"So, anyway, how did you survived the gunshot? The bullet just bounced off of your chest like if you were made of rubber." Asher says as Luffy grins.

"That's because I am. I can stretch any part of my body thanks to my Gomu Gomu fruit and became a Rubber Man." Luffy says as he then stretches his cheek to demonstrate.

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Asher says as Luffy smiled.

"I know, right?" Luffy says as the boys grinned at each other.

"So, straw hat. You ate a devil fruit like my son here?" Gaimon asked as Luffy nodded.

"Yep, ate one when I was 7-years-old," Luffy says before blinking. "Wait, son?" Luffy says as he looks between Asher and Gaimon, and scratched his head confusedly. "I don't see the resemblance."

"HE'S ADOPTED, YOU IDIOT!" Gaimon yells as Luffy nodded.

"Ah, that makes sense," Luffy says as Nami turned to Asher.

"So, if your Gaimon is not your real father, then where are your biological parents?" Nami asked as Asher shrugs, grabbing Cottontail as he pets him.

"Don't know. I was washed up shore here on a small boat when I was only 4-years-old, heavily injured, but luckily old man Gaimon found me a few hours later and treated my wounds." Asher says as the middle-aged man nodded.

"I asked him how he got here and how he got his injuries. But Asher says that he doesn't remember anything from his past. I think he got amnesia or something." Gaimon says, absentmindedly as Luffy tilted his head confusedly.

"What's aneshia?" Luffy asked as Nami shakes her head.

"First of all, it's pronounced amnesia, Luffy. Second, amnesia is when somebody loses either some of their memories or all of it due to a head injury, illness, traumatic events, etc." She says as Luffy nodded understandably, and turned to Asher.

So, you don't remember anything?" Luffy asked as the sixteen-year-old shrugs.

"I can remember somethings like my name, how to walk, talk, and all that stuff. But other than that, nothing. I don't even know how I lost my right eye." Asher says, pointing at his eye as Luffy stares at it.

"Oh, cool! You have an eyepatch like a pirate!"

"Yep. My dad gave it to me when he healed me." Asher says as Luffy reached for his eyepatch.

"Can I see what's inside?" Luffy asked as Nami punches him in the head.

"DON'T TOUCH HIS EYEPATCH WITHOUT ASKING FOR PERMISSION YOU IDIOT!" Nami screamed as Luffy pouted.

"But, I'm curious," Luffy whined as Asher gave Nami a grateful look.

"Thanks for the help, miss."

"You're welcome," Nami says.

"Hey, old man. Why are you in a treasure chest anyway?" Luffy asked Gaimon as the old man turned to him. "Are you a jack in a box?" Luffy asked as Gaimon nodded.

"Yeah, my parents took care of me when I was still small-are you an idiot!?" Gaimon says calmly, before screaming at Luffy as Asher and Cottontail snickered. "I'm a person, not a toy! I've been stranded on this island and got stuck in this damm box for 20 years!" Gaimon screams, surprising everyone except for Asher and Cottontail.

"You have been stuck here for 20 years?!" Nami exclaimed as Asher nodded.

"Yep and Cottontail have been stuck here for 200 years," Asher says as Nami gave him a blank look.

"Why would I care about how long your pet had been stuck here?" Nami asked, before blinking. "Wait, 200 years?! How can he live for that long!?"

"Cottontail told me that his species have extremely long lifespans compared to humans," Asher explained while scratching Cottontails head as Gaimon coughs.

"Can I finish, please?" Gaimon says as they nodded. "Good. Anyway, I've been stuck here for so long that my hair and mustache grew out like a wildman! And in all that time, you're the first people I had a real conversation with, outside of my son, of course. Do you understand the pain that I've have been through?"

"That's ridiculous," Luffy bluntly says as Gaimon glared at him.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Gaimon screamed as Asher was about to calm him down when suddenly his keen senses detected footprints coming their way.

"Guys, we got incoming," Asher says as everyone tensed, but Nami and Luffy relaxed as they saw that it was only Zoro.

"Oh, there you guys are! I've been looking everywhere for you." Zoro says while yawning as he sat down, and finally noticed Asher, Cottontail, and Gaimon. "Who are you two? And why are you stuck in a box? Are you a jack in a box?" Zoro asked as Gaimon nodded.

"Yes, ironically, I am stuck in a box, and my name is-you idiot! We have already been through all that!" He says calmly, before screaming at Zoro as Luffy grabs him by his afro.

"Zoro, come and give me a hand," Luffy says, pulling Gaimon by his afro as Zoro nodded, and went to help his captain.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! It hurts! What the hell are you two doing!?"

"Stop it, you guys! You're going to kill my dad!" Asher yells, pulling them off of his father as he went to check on him. "Are you alright, old man?" Asher worriedly asked as Gaimon nodded.

"I'm alright, son."

"Why couldn't we pull you out of the chest?" Luffy asked as Gaimon glared at him.

"Next time, think before you act, stupid! I've been stuck in this blasted treasure chest for so long now that it slowly became part of my body! If you tried to take me out of this chest, then I will be done for!" He screamed as Asher nodded.

"Yep, that's what he told me when I tried to pull him out," Asher says as he remembered a 4-year-old version of himself trying to pull his dad out of his chest, and Gaimon yelling at him to let go.

"Anyway, you mentioned earlier that you guys were pirates, right?" Gaimon asked, after calming down a bit as Luffy nodded.

"Yep. I'm the captain of this crew. My name is Monkey D. Luffy." He says before pointing at his crew. "This is Zoro, our first mate/swordsman, and that girl over there is Nami. She's our navigator." Luffy says as Nami waved at them while Zoro looks away.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Asher D. Willis, and this is my pet, Cottontail." Asher says while pointing at his pet as Gaimon stepped up.

"And, my name is Gaimon, Guardian of the Forest, but before that, I used to be a pirate," Gaimon says, shocking them as they stared at him in disbelief.

"Really?" Luffy asked as Gaimon nodded and looked up to the sky with a nostalgic look.

"It was nice being a pirate, searching for treasure, and risking my life." He says as Asher smiled.

"Old man Gaimon used to tell me stories of his adventures when I was a little kid. I was one of the most favorite times of my childhood." Asher says as Gaimon smiled at him, before turning to Luffy.

"Since your pirates, that must mean you have a map, right?" He asked as Luffy nodded, and pulled out a map from his pocket.

"Yep! We have a navigational map for the Grand Line! I'm going to use it to find the One Piece!" Luffy says excitedly as Gaimon, Asher, and Cottontail stared at him with shocked looks.

"The One Piece!?" They yelled as Luffy grinned.

"And, become King of the Pirates!" He says as Gaimon stared at him with his jaws open.

"So, wait. You guys are sailing to the Grand Line to find the legendary One Piece?" Asher asked as Luffy nodded. "That's so cool!" Asher yelled as he stares at Luffy awestruck. "I can't believe you guys are brave enough to sail the most dangerous sea in the world!" Asher screamed before calming down as he gave Luffy a pleading look. "May I please see the map? I've never seen a real pirate map before." Asher says as Luffy smiled.

"Sure," Luff says with a shrug as he handed him the map, and Asher stared at it in awe.

"Whoa, the map of the Grand Line," Asher says as he opens the map...and blinks as he realized that he didn't know how to read a map. "So, which one is the Grand Line?" Asher asked as Luffy shrugs.

"Don't know. Hey, shrub guy! Do you know which one is the Grand Line?" Luffy asked as Gaimon stared at the map for a few seconds before shrugging.

"Sorry, I never really learned how to read a map."

"That's okay, shrub guy. I never learned either," Luffy admitted.

"Me three," Asher says as three stared at each other before laughing like idiots as Nami sweatdropped at the scene.

"Asher, I understand, but you two are pirates! How do you guys not know how to read a map?" Nami asked as Asher turned to Cottontail, who was on his shoulder staring at the map curiously.

"What do you think, buddy? Think, you can read this map?" Asher asked as Cottontail shakes his head.

_"Sorry, I don't understand your human writing."_

"It's okay," Luffy assured him as Asher and Cottontail mumbled thanks, before turning to him in shock.

"You can understand him?" Asher asked, surprised as Luffy nodded. "Oh, that's great! Now you have someone else to talk to, buddy!" Asher says as Cottontail sweatdropped.

_"But why did it have to be the dumb one?"_ He asked as Luffy glared at him.

"What did you say, you stupid rat!?" Luffy yelled in outrage as Cottontail cowered behind Asher.

"Enough!" Nami says, stepping in between Luffy and Asher. "Anyway, even if we do make it to the Grand Line, the best course of action is to get as much treasure as we can and escape,"

"Treasure? Are you a treasure hunter like my old man?" Asher asked as Nami looks away with a grin.

"You can say that, but I'm more of a pirate burglar." She says as Asher gave her a confused look.

"Pirate burglar? But aren't you also a pirate?" He asked as Nami shakes her head.

"No. I'm just traveling along with these guys for the time being," Nami says as Asher nodded.

"Good to know." He says before chuckling as he looked out into the ocean. "Man, I'm still freaking out that you guys are going to Grand Line. I always wanted to go there ever since my dad told me about it when I was a little kid."

"And, do what, exactly?" Nami asked as Asher grins.

"I want to go to the Grand Line to fight all the word's strongest people, and become the strongest man in the world!" Asher screamed as Zoro stared at him quizzically.

"The strongest man in the world? So, you're aiming to become the Kind of the Pirates like Luffy?" Zoro asked as Luffy stared at him with an emotionless look, waiting to see what his response is.

"Nah, not really," Asher says, surprising everyone as he turns to them. "I really don't want to be the king of anything. My dream is to explore the world someday and become the world's strongest man. I know that my dream may seem simple to you guys, you can laugh all you want. But I don't care because it's my dream and I'm sticking by it." Asher says with a determined look as everyone stared at him, stunned.

"Well said, Asher," Luffy says as he nodded approvingly, before turning to Nami. "Anyway, you can steal all the treasure you want, but the Once Piece is definitely going to be there, and I'm gonna find it," Luffy says as Gaimon scoffed.

"Good luck with that, kid," Gaimon mumbles as everyone turned to him.

"What do you mean by that, old man?" Asher asked as Gaimon sighed tiredly.

"There's a reason why they call the Grand Line a pirates graveyard, son. Let me explain, a long time ago, before you showed up, a group of pirates returned from the Grand Line. Every one of them had lost their spirit and looked as if they were dead! Their facial expressions were even more painful to look at! It looked like they met something horrid, maybe a pirate or perhaps a monster. Nobody dared to talk about it, but you could see it from their look...the look of the Grand Line!"

_"...Whoa."_ Cottontail said as everybody got invested in the story.

"I have no other proof either than this. The rumors only made it more and more mysterious! It's already been 20 years since the beginning of the 'Pirate Era'...that treasure might be nothing more than a legend." Gaimon says before turning to Luffy as he gave the teen a solemn look. "Can't you see that the One Piece might be nothing more than a dream inside of a dream?" Gaimon asked as Luffy didn't say anything at first, but then he suddenly smiled as he laughed.

"Maybe, but I will never know until I look for it for myself!" Luffy says with a big grin as Gaimon stared at him in shock, before gasping as he realized something.

"You're just like me!" Gaimon yelled as everyone stared at him, confused. "You even look like me! We could be twins!"

"Are you sure about that old man Gaimon?" Asher asked, looking between Luffy and Gaimon as he gave his dad a blank look. "I don't see the resemblance.

"It's supposed to be a metaphor, you dumb brat!" Gaimon screamed before turning to Luffy. "Young man, I understand about the pursuit of your dreams! When I was a younger man, we used to feel the same way! We were willing to put our lives on the line to search for treasure! It was that single-minded seal that changed my life forever!"

"Wait! Slow down! What are you even talking about?" Nami asked, but Gaimon continues talking as if he didn't hear her.

"It was 20 years ago, my crew and I had landed on this island for one single reason...to find the treasure that was rumored to be there! 200 hundred men had searched for an entire month, and nothing has been found, except for this broken treasure chest!" Gaimon says, gesturing the box that he was stuck in as he continued talking.

"The Captain had ordered everyone to go back into the ship, and I was about to follow them. When suddenly I noticed a large cliff that nobody had checked yet, so I climbed it and much to my shock, there was a bunch of treasure chest just sitting there right for the taken! I tried to call out to my crew, but then I accidentally fell off the cliff, and landed in this treasure chest, knocking myself out. By the time I woke up, my crew had already sailed away." Gaimon solemnly says as everyone gave him sympathetic looks. Including Asher and Cottontail, even though they heard the story over and over again.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Gaimon," Nami says as Gaimon smiled and looked at Asher.

"Thanks, but thankfully life here wasn't so bad, especially with Asher was around. He sure did lighten things around here with his antics all of these years. Treating everything as if it was a fun adventure, but he sure was a handful."

"That's nice and all, but what about the treasure?" Zoro asked as Gaimon rubs his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, yes, well, about that...there wasn't any treasure at all!" Gaimon says as everyone gave him a shocked look.

"EH!?" They exclaimed as Asher nodded.

"It's true. I found that out by myself." Asher says as everyone turned to him. "When I first found my Devil Fruit, and after hearing my dad's life story. I made a promise to myself to I will master my new powers and get strong enough, so I can help my dad recover his treasure! I trained intensively for 10 years straight, and when I finally finished my training, I propelled myself up the cliff and quickly began to open all of the chests. But much to my dismay, they were all empty." Asher says as everybody gasped, and Gaimon nodded sadly.

"At first I was sad that the treasure that I longed for wasn't real, but after having a hard conversation with my son, I come to realize that while the treasure that I have been craving for wasn't real. At least I found out about it when I was relatively young, so I didn't have to waste my entire life guardian for fake treasure."

"After that incident, I made a vow to myself to live the rest of my life to the fullest! I spent more time with my son, made friends with the animals of the Island, and lived my life to the fullest! I was content with my life, and that's when I realized something, I had found treasure! My son and my animal friends, they are my real treasure!"

Asher smiled proudly at his father as all of the harmless animals came out of the forest, and licks him in appreciation. Nami and even Zoro smiled at the scene as Luffy walks up to them with his hat covering his eyes as Asher and Gaimon stared at him confusedly.

"Luffy?"

"Straw hat? What's wrong with you?" Gaimon asked as Luffy slowly looked up to them and grinned.

"I want you two to join my crew!" Luffy yells as Cottontail flew in and landed on his shoulder. "You can come as well, Cottontail, since you're Asher's pet." He says as both Asher and Gaimon stared at him with their jaws open.

"What!?" They exclaimed as Nami smiled.

"Yeah, it will be great to have you both on board!" She says as Zoro nodded.

"Indeed. And the kid's bomb powers will certainly come in handy in future fights."

"Y-You're asking us to join your crew? To become pirates?" Asher asked with a hopeful look on his face as Luffy nodded.

"Yep! So, what do you guys say? Want to become our Nakama?" Luffy asked as Asher grinned widely.

"You bet, I do!" Asher screamed as he leaped in the air and cheered. "This is great! I can finally become a real pirate!" Asher yelled as he landed back on the ground, and everyone stared at him amusedly as Asher turned to Gaimon. "And, you can become a pirate again and finally leave the Island! Isn't that great?" Asher says happily to Gaimon before frowning as he noticed that his father was eerily quiet." Uh, Dad. What's wrong?" Asher asked as Gaimon slowly looks up to him and gave him a big toothy grin.

"Sorry, son, but I'm staying."

"Eh!? But why?" Asher asked as Gaimon turned to the teens.

"You wouldn't mind if an old man talks with his son in private, right?"

"Sure. Come on, guys." Luffy says as the other two nodded, and walked away. Including, Cottontail who was still sitting on Luffy's shoulder.

"Dad-"

"Son, sit down," Gaimon says, sitting down as his son sat next to him. "I want to stay on the Island for a couple of reasons. One, I need to stay here to take care of the animals and protect them from outsiders. Two, I will only slow you guys down."

"Dad, that's not-"

"Son, stop lying. I'm stuck on this chest. I can't run as fast as a normal person or fight at all, so I will be a major burden on all of you. And third, I want you to experience the world by yourself without your dad around, living the life of a pirate! I want you to sail around the world, make new friends, make powerful enemies, and, most importantly, follow your dream! Can you do that for me, son?" Gaimon asked as Asher nodded determinedly.

"I will, father!" Asher says as Gaimon smiled and hugs him.

"I love you, son. Always remember that I have faith in you, and wherever life takes you. Just remember that your old man will be sitting here. Thinking how proud he is of his stupid, stubborn, reckless, child!" Gaimon screams with tears streaming down his face as Asher's one eye teared up as well.

"I love you too, dad. Thank you for taking care of me all these years. I will never forget everything you've done for me, old man." Asher says as Gaimon eyes widen, and his lip trembled.

"Dammit! I'm going to miss you, you brat!" Gaimon sobs as Asher cried as well.

"I'm going to miss you too, you old bastard!" Asher screamed as they shared a hug and cried.

* * *

"When you think there going to be finished?" Zoro asked with a bored tone as he laid down on his ship. "It's been 20 minutes already."

"Hey, give them some time, this is probably the last time they will see each other for a very long time," Nami says as Zoro shrugs, and went back to sleep. Luffy says nothing as he waited patiently on the ship, petting Cottontail.

"Hey, guys!" Asher screams as he and his father appeared out of the forest, carrying some supplies as Asher grins. "It's the offer still opened?" Asher asked as Luffy gave him a big smile.

"Of course! Hop on in!" Luffy says as Asher eagerly got aboard the ship, and gave Nami the supplies. "Are you sure you want to stay here on the Island, Gaimon?" Luffy asked as Gaimon nodded.

"Yes. Thank you for inviting me to your crew, but I want to stay. I'm getting too old for the pirate game. Plus, I want my son to experience the world by himself without his old man slowing him down." He says as Asher smiled at him gratefully. "Also, I want to continue being the Guardian of the Island," Gaimon says as all the hybrid animals, including the dangerous animals, showed up to bid their friend/enemy farewell. "I have grown too attached to them, I can't leave them behind," Gaimon says as they smiled.

"Too bad, your a neat guy, for a living jack in a box, at least," Luff says.

"The weird creatures here, are your true friends, huh," Zoro says as Luffy nodded.

"Yep, and he's the weirdest of them all," Luffy says as Asher nodded in agreement.

"I can vouch for that since I lived with him for 12 years."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU BRATS!?" Gaimon screamed as everyone started laughing, including him. All of the animals in the forest roared, squeaked, howled, hissed, and meowed their goodbyes to the young teen as Asher smiled. Before noticing Gorillaphant standing by the side as he smirked.

"Guys, hold up a sec. There's something I have to do first." Asher says as they nodded, and he leaped out of the boat as he ran after the big creature. "Hey, big guy!" Asher screams as Gorillaphant looks down at him, and the young teen grins as he made small explosions with his hands. "How about one more fight before I go?" The giant hybrid stared at him in shock, before grinning as it nodded. "Alright! Let's do this!" Asher screams as Gorillaphant charges at him, and he smirked.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Strike!"**

Asher's feet generated an explosion that propelled himself into the air as he flew up like a missile, and throws a punch at the giant monster's face, sending him flying halfway across the island. Tears streamed down the hybrid's face as he silently bid farewell to the only person that could best him in a fight, before landing on the forest.

"Whoa! He sent that guy flying!" Luffy exclaimed as Nami, and even Zoro looked amazed.

"What destructive power!" Nami says as Zoro nodded.

"Goodbye, everyone! I will miss you!" Asher screamed while jumping back on the ship as it sailed off.

"Farewell, my son!" Gaimon screamed as he and the rest island inhabitants waved at him goodbye. A few hours later, we see Asher staring out into the sea with Cottontail resting on his shoulder as the lemur gave him a concerned look.

_"Homesick already?"_ Cottontail asked as Asher nodded. _"Regret your decision?"_ Cottontail asked as Asher shakes his head.

"Nah. I may miss home, but I want to follow my dreams and become the world's strongest man. Besides, it's not like I'm going away forever. Once I accomplished my goals, we will return back home, and I will tell my dad all the grand adventures we had." Asher says, surprising his pet as he grinned. "So, how about it, little buddy? Ready for our next adventure?"

_"Definitely."_

"Hey, Asher! Cottontail! Come over here, so we can start your initiation!" Luffy says as Asher and Cottontail grinned at each other.

"Coming Captain," Asher says as he walked over to where his crew was sitting, and sat down, while Cottontail landed on his lap.

"Now, that everyone's here, let's celebrate for our new bodyguard and pet, Asher D. Willis and Cottontail!" Luffy yelled as everyone cheered, except for Asher, and Cottontail as they tilted their heads confusedly.

"Bodyguard?"

_"Pet?"_

"Yeah, I mean, you protected Nami from the giant monster thing, and you're pretty strong. So it makes sense that you will be the perfect bodyguard," Luffy says to Asher, before turning to Cottontail. "And since you are Asher's pet, I figured you can be our pet too, so what do you two say?" Luffy says as Asher and Cottontail stared at each other, before grinning as they turned to their captain.

"Aye, aye, captain."

_"I can deal with that."_

"Okay, okay, enough, let's drink!" Zoro says as everybody cheered. Asher laughs as he stared out into the ocean and grins as he can't wait for the future adventures he will have, and all the enemies he will fight as well. I hope they will give me a challenge. Asher thought to himself as they continued sailing on the open sea.

* * *

**Man, that was a fun chapter to write! Anyway, yes, Asher does have the exact same fruit as Mr. 5. Why? Well, I always felt like the potential of that fruit was wasted by him, so I decided that Asher should have his fruit instead. Also, I decided to change his devil fruit powers a bit because using boogers as projectiles is gross. Asher will have the ability to make anything explosive just by touching them, but only to small objects like shurikens. ****Mr. 5 will have a different devil fruit, and you guys will find out what it is when we reached the Whiskey Peak arc.**

**And, before I go, I should tell you guys that Asher cannot talk with animals. Asher can understand Cottontail quite well because he grew up with him and can basically know what he's thinking by looking at his facial expressions alone. Luffy can understand Cottontail because...well, he's Luffy.**

**Anyway, as always, I will catch you all later.**


	2. Meeting a liar

**Hey, guys! Sorry, I have been gone for so long, I got busy with my other stories...and I may have forgotten to post the new chapter...whoops...anyway, I don't own anything, except for my OC'S.**

**NOW LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY!**

{Season 1, Episode 2: Meeting a Liar/Trouble Brewing in Syrup Village}

"There's no way we can get to the Grand Line in our condition," Nami says to the boys, who were relaxing on the boat as Luffy nodded, and spits out the apple core that he was eating.

"Hmmm, you're right. All we have to eat are fruits...yuck." Luffy says with a disgusted look on his face as Asher gave him an offended look.

"Hey! Old Gaimon gave us enough barrel of fruits to sustain us until we get to the next island, so be grateful!" Asher angrily yells as Luffy brushed off his anger and pick his nose.

"That's nice and all, but I prefer if he packed more meat than fruits," Luffy says while tossing the apple core in his hands away.

"I have you know that fruits are way more delicious than meat," Asher says while taking a bite out of his banana as Luffy went stiff, and slowly turned to him.

"...What did you say?" Luffy emotionlessly asked.

"I said that meat tastes awful-Ah!" Asher before yelping as Luffy pounced on him and they started wrestling on the ground.

"Meat is better! Admit it, you little brat!" Luffy yelled, strangling Asher a bit, as the young pirate retaliated by kicking him away.

"Never!" Asher screams as he jumps on top of Luffy, and slams his captain's head on the floor. Not really hurting him thanks to his rubber powers, but Asher didn't really want to hurt him since it was just a playful fight.

"This fight will be more entraining with some sake, right, rat?" Zoro says while yawning as he talked to Cottontail, who was sleeping next to him as the young animal glared at him.

_"I'm not a rat, you grass-haired brute,"_ Cottontail says, although all Zoro could hear was squeaking noises coming from the animal's mouth.

"WILL YOU BOY'S KNOCK IT OFF!" Nami yelled, annoyed with the boy's behavior as she bonks them on their heads, and effectively stopped Luffy and Asher's fight. The boys groaned in pain from Nami's punch, including Luffy, even though he's made of rubber, as Nami huffed.

"I'm not talking about the food supplies! I'm saying that the Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world! There will be lots of pirates there looking for the One Piece, and they will definitely have powerful ships, so the first thing we should do is to get a better ship!" Nami says before pacing around as the boys watched her. "We're also short on crew members, and this ship doesn't have enough equipment. No matter what you think, we can't possibly think we be safe!" Nami says as Luffy listened to her carefully, actually acting serious for once as he realized how ill-prepared they are.

"What do we then?" Luffy asked as Nami brought out a map.

"We have to prepare first, and plan for the journeys ahead. There's a village due north. We should go there first and get a better ship!" Nami says as Luffy nodded.

"Right! Time to get some meat!"

"And more fruits!" Asher screams.

"No! We only stock up our fridge with meat and _only_ meat!" Luffy yelled as the boys growled at each other with electricity bouncing in between them.

"And, don't forget about getting some sake," Zoro says.

"You guys! Weren't you listening to what I've been saying!" Nami screamed, before sitting down exasperatedly as Cottontail jumped into her lap, and she stares at him. "Why is it that the only normal one in the ship is a rat?" Nami asked herself as Cottontail glared up to her.

_"Hey, I'm trying to make you feel better, and this is what I get? Ungrateful brat."_ Cottontail grumbles before purring as Nami started petting him.

* * *

A few hours later, we see Asher and the others arriving on a small island as they jumped out of their boats and stretched their legs.

"Ah, my first time on a different island, I can't wait to explore the place!" Asher says with a big grin as Cottontail flew on his shoulder.

_"Ah, the air here smells fresher here than back at Gaimon's island," _Cottontail says, enjoying the breeze.

"Wow! There really is an island here!" Luffy says, surprised as Nami gave him a dumbfounded look.

"Yeah, what did you expect? We followed the map, so of course, it couldn't be wrong!"

"Oh...so, the village is further down that way," Luffy says while pointing at the giant slope leading to a village as Nami nodded and checked the map.

Uh-huh! Although it's just a small village." Nami says, rather disappointedly as Luffy suddenly looked excited and rushed up to her.

"Oh, then that means there meat there, right?" Luff asked with drool running down his mouth as a tick mark appeared on Nami's head.

"Can you not think with your stomach for once?" Nami asked as Asher laughs at their antics, but then suddenly grew tense as his enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of footsteps nearby.

"Guys, do you hear that?" Asher asked as Nami and Luffy stared at him confusedly.

_"Yeah, I did,"_ Cottontail says as Zoro stepped up.

"Careful, guys. We're being watched." Zoro says while looking around cautiously as he gripped his swords tightly.

"Really!? Where? Where?" Luffy excitedly asked while looking around as Asher's eyes widen and quickly jumped towards his Captain.

"Luffy! Look out!" Asher yelled, tackling Luffy to the ground just as small pachinko's rained down on the spot Luffy was standing.

"Whoa, that was close! Thanks for the save, Asher." Luffy says as Asher smiled.

"You're welcome, Captain," Asher says just as several pirate flags popped out of the bushes in a group of threes as they covered the entire coastline.

"What's happening?" Asher asked as Luffy looked around with stars in his eyes.

"So cool!"

"This isn't the time to be in awe!" Nami yelled just as a teen suddenly appeared as he stood on a large cliff, facing the pirates as he crossed his arms smugly. The teen is 17-years-old with tan skin, medium-length black woolly hair, a slim figure, prominent lips, and a long nose. He wears an olive plaid bandanna, a blue/white striped armband on his left arm, sniper goggles, brown overalls with a white sash, and no shirt underneath. He also carries around a yellow satchel. His name is Usopp.

"I am the leader of the great pirate crew that conquered this village, Usopp! Everyone praises me and address me as Captain Usopp! If you're thinking of attacking this village, you should just save your strength. Otherwise, my 80 million men will crush you all like bugs!"

"Awesome!" Luffy exclaimed as Asher turned to his Captain worriedly.

"Captain, we're screwed! There's 80 million of them and only 5 of us!" Asher says as Luffy's eyes harden and took a battle stance.

"Well, if we're going to down, then at least we're going down fighting! Come on, Asher! Let's kick their butts!" Luffy shouted as Asher stared at his Captain with stars in his eyes, inspired by Luffy's bravery.

"On it! I got your back captain!" Asher says with a smirk as he adopted a fighting stance as well. Zoro and Nami stared at them like they were idiots...which they were as Cottontail eyes narrow in suspicion and flew over to the pirate flags as he glided into the bushes.

"Aaah! A rat! Captain, help us!" Three young voices were heard as Cottontail flew out of the bush with three scared kids hanging by his tail as he threw them on the floor.

"Huh? Why are there kids here?" Asher asked, confused as Nami smirked.

"Just what I thought. Good job, Cottontail." Nami complimented Cottontail, who flew on to her shoulder as Nami looked up to a nervous Usopp. "It was all a lie, wasn't it?" She asked Usopp, who was visibly shaking as he realized his lie was exposed. "There weren't any 80 million men, it was just a couple of kids holding up a couple of pirate flags."

"Aaah! She knows! Runaway!" The kids yelled as they ran off, leaving Usopp behind.

"Hey, you guys! Don't run!" Usopp screamed before freezing up as he realized he was left alone with the pirates.

"A pirate that uses pachinko? I've never heard of such a thing." Nami says while inspecting the pachinko's on the ground as Luffy laughed.

"Hey, you're an interesting fellow!" Luffy says as Asher nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're really funny!' Asher says as Usopp growled, not liking that the pirates weren't taking him seriously as he pulled out a slingshot from his satchel.

"Hey, you!" He yelled, gaining the attention of the pirates as he aimed at Luffy's chest. "Don't laugh at me! I'm a man of great pride! Because of my pride, everybody calls me...Usopp the Proud! I can rival anyone with a gun with my trusty slingshot." Usopp says as Luffy suddenly grew serious, and his hat shadowed his eyes.

"...Would you risk your life?" Luffy asked, surprising Usopp, Nami, and Cottontail with his words. "Now that you've drawn your weapon...are you willing to use it?" Luffy asked as Usopp gasped, and his grip on his slingshot trembled. "Guns and slingshots aren't for threats, they're are for actions." Asher and Zoro glanced at each other and smirked as they caught on to their Captain's plan, and decided to play along.

"Hey! You better think carefully about what you do next." Zoro says while gripping his sword tightly as Asher crackled his knuckles.

"Yeah, you're messing with real pirates. And, if you lay one finger on our Captain, then you're in for a world of hurt," Asher says as Luffy stared up at Usopp with an emotionless look on his face, waiting to see what he would do. Usopp struggled to keep a grip on his slingshot as he wondered whether or not to shoot Luffy, but one look from the Straw Hat wearing boy caused him to freeze as he let go of his slingshot and fell on his knees.

"Oh, man. Real pirates actually have a lot more punch behind their words because they can actually back it up, so cool." Usopp says as Luffy, Asher, and Zoro stared at each other before laughing as Usopp stared at them, puzzled.

"I stole that!" Luffy yelled as Usopp blinked confusedly.

"What's that?"

"I stole those words from Red-Haired Shanks!" Luffy says as Usopp flinched.

W-What!? S-Shanks, you say!? You mean the famous pirate Shanks!?" Usopp says while leaning down on the cliff as Luffy nodded. "No way...you must be lying! Do you really know him?"

"Yep! And, I know, your dad too! His name is Yasopp, right?" Luffy asked as Usopp gasped before beaming happily as he accidentally slips, and fell off the cliff as he landed right in front of the pirates. Grunting, Usopp sat up from the ground as he gave Luffy a hopeful look.

"Y-Yeah, it's true! My father's name is Yasopp...but how do you know him?" He asked as Luffy was about to respond, but his stomach grumbles.

_"How about we talk this over lunch?"_ Cottontail suggested as Luffy nodded.

"Good idea, Cottontail!" He says, confusing Usopp as Luffy grinned at the long-nosed boy. "Let's get some lunch first, and then I will tell you everything you want to know!" Luffy says as Usopp smiled and nodded.

* * *

A few minutes later, we see Luffy and his crew eating with Usopp on a small tavern in the village as they enjoyed their meals.

"Pretty good, right?" Usopp asked as everyone nodded.

"Yep," Luffy says, his voice slightly muffled as he ate a chicken leg. "The meat is so good...much better than this disgusting...tasteless...fruit," Luffy says while staring at Asher dead in the eye as the young teen stood up with a fork in his hand.

"You want to go, rubber boy?" Asher threatens, challenging Luffy to another fight as the older teen grinned, and stood up.

"Bring it on, you bomb brat!"

"I'm only a year younger than you!" Asher yelled, annoyed as they were about to fight, but Nami quickly intercepts them and bonked them on their heads.

"Not while we're eating!" Nami scolded the boys, who pouted.

"But Nami-"

"Sit down!" Nami commanded as they sat down obediently, and continued eating as Usopp stared at the scene with a sweatdrop.

"Anyway...my old man really knows Shanks?" Usopp asked Luffy, who nodded as he took another bite of his food.

"He doesn't just know him, he's part of their crew!" Luffy says as Usopp gasped in amazement.

"I can't believe it! My old man, sailing the high seas with famous pirates." Usopp says, sitting back on his chair with a proud look on his face as Luffy smiled.

"I haven't seen him for a while, but I'm pretty sure he's still with Shanks," Luffy says before taking a bite out of his meat. "He was a heck of a sharpshooter, I'll keep him on my crew. You know, Usopp, I heard enough stories about you that I thought my ears would fall off. Yasopp is a great pirate." Luffy says as Usopp beamed.

"That's what I thought exactly! I'm so proud of my dad, he left on a pirates life on the endless sea, and chose the life of real adventure."

"Hey, since you live in here and all, maybe you can help us?" Nami says, gaining Usopp's attention. "Do you know someone who could provide us with a decent ship?" Nami says as Asher nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, a huge ship with lots of space to train!" Asher says as Cottontail yawned while resting on Asher's lap.

_"And, lots of places to nap,"_ Cottontail says, although Usopp didn't understand him as the long-nosed boy shakes his head.

"Well, it's a pretty small village. Sorry, but I don't think we could help you." Usopp apologetically says as Nami sighs disappointedly.

"What about that mansion over there?" Zoro says, speaking up for the first time since the conversation started as he pointed outside of the window, showing a large white mansion laying on top of a hill as Usopp flinches.

"Hey, do you know them, Usopp? With all that money, surely they could help us get out boat." Nami says as Usopp grew angry, slams his hand on the table.

"NO WAY! YOU STAY AWAY FROM THERE, YOU HERE ME!?" Usopp yells as everyone blinked at his sudden outburst. Usopp blinks as he realized what he did, and sweated nervously. "Uh, I mean, I just remembered that I have something to attend to," Usopp says, sitting up as he grabbed his satchel. "Everyone knows me at this place, so stay and eat as much as you want. Bye!" Usopp says, zooming off as everyone stared at him suspiciously.

"I wondered why he ran off in such a hurry," Nami says as Asher shrugs.

"Maybe it has to do with that mansion. Should we check it out?" Asher asked as Luffy.

"Yes...after we eat more meat!" Luffy says while taking another bite out of his chicken leg as everyone shrugged and continued eating. After a few minutes of eating, three kids stormed into the restaurant as they ran up to the gang's booth and aimed their wooden swords at them threateningly.

One of the kids was a freckled boy with short spiky white hair that covers his eyes, a face that ends in a pointed chin; these features make his head resemble a carrot. His outfit consists of a black sweater, a reddish-brown sash, light yellow pants, an orange hat with a frill at the top, and the Usopp Pirates Jolly Roger on the front, and dark brown shoes. His name is Ninjin, although people usually call him Carrot.

The second boy has straight, brown hair with a tuft sticking up at the top, making his head reminiscent of an onion, and tiny eyes. He wears square glasses, a yellow shirt with a blue vest jacket over it, a dark yellow sash, dark brown pants, and black shoes. His name is Tamanegi, although people usually call him Onion.

The third boy has dark green hair in the shape of a pepper. He wears a light green short sleeves shirt with Usopp Pirates Jolly Roger on the front, a blue sash, dark blue pants, and black shoes. His name is Piiman, although people usually call him Pepper.

"The Usopp pirates have arrived!" They yelled as the gang stared at them, confused.

"Who are those kids?" Nami asked as Zoro looked at them closely and finally recognized them.

"Wait, weren't those brats with Usoop earlier?" Zoro asked as Luffy didn't say anything since he was still busy eating his food.

"Aw, they're pretending to be pirates. That's so adorable! I remember when I did that as a kid." Asher says with a nostalgic look on his face as Pepper stepped up.

"Alright, you filthy pirates! What have you done with our Captain Usopp? Tell us now!"

"Yeah, tell us now!" Carrot and Onion added as Luffy belched.

"Man, that meat sure was good!" Luffy says while patting his swollen stomach as the kids blanched.

"What meat!?" Carrot asked as he and Onion hid behind their leader while trembling in fear.

"Those pirates are cannibals!" Onion yells as Nami giggled under her breath, and Cottontail snickered quietly.

"What have you done, you savages!?" Pepper asked as Zoro slowly turns to him and gave him a malicious look.

"If your looking for your captain...we ate him!" Zoro says as Asher decided to play along and grabs a chicken bone.

"All that is left of him is this," Asher says while grinning sinisterly as the kids panicked.

"AAAAHHHH! CANNIBALS!" The little veggies screamed while looking directly at Nami as she grew angry.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME!?" Nami screamed with white eyes and shark teeth as the little veggies fainted, and the teens laughed.

* * *

"Oh, you really had us going there," Carrot says as he and the others were walking towards the gates of the mansion as Nami explained to them that it was all just a prank.

"Whoa, that's the biggest house I've ever seen!" Asher exclaimed as Cottontail gave him a blank look.

_"That's the only house you've seen."_

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Asher says as Cottontail facepalmed.

"And, if our Captain ran off at this hour, then this the place he's going to be." Onion says as Luffy stared at him, confused.

"Oh, why in the world would Usopp come here for?"

"Oh, he comes to lie." Carrot nonchalantly says as Nami gasped.

"To lie? That's terrible!"

"He's not a bad guy!" Pepper says, coming to his captain's defense as Onion nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he's awesome!"

"How is a liar awesome?" Zoro asked as Onion decided to explain.

"Well, Kaya, the girl who lives there, has been suffering a terrible depression that has kept her weak and in bed since her parents got sick and died a year ago. She's rich, but all that money couldn't help her recover from her sadness."

"So our Captain tells her funny made up stories to make her laugh and cheer up," Pepper says.

"Yeah, our Captain is the best in coming up with lies," Carrot added in as the group smiled.

"Oh, that's nice of him," Luffy says as the little veggies nodded.

"Yeah, the best part about him is his mischievous side. He's always up to something." Carrot says.

"I like him because he's not afraid to be silly," Pepper says.

"And, I like the Captain's crazy lies." Onion says.

"So, the girl is feeling better because of Usopp?" Asher asked as they nodded.

"Yep. Lot's better." They said as Luffy grinned and raised his fist in excitement.

"Great, I think we should ask her for a ship after all!" Luffy says with a big grin as everyone sweatdropped.

"We're not the ones making her feel better that's Usopp," Zoro says as Asher nodded.

"She doesn't know us at all, so why would she willingly give us a boat?" Asher asked, being smart for once as Cottontail flew in and landed on Luffy's shoulder.

_"Quite frankly, I think this whole plan is stupid. This Kaya girl has no obligation to help us."_ He says as Luffy waved off his concern.

"Oh, what do you know? Your just a dumb rat." Luffy absentmindedly says as a tick mark appeared on Cottontail's head.

_"I'm not a rat! Why does everyone keep calling me that!?"_ Cottontail yelled as Asher picks him up from Luffy's shoulder, and pets him to calm him down.

"There, there, it's okay, no one really thinks you're a rat, they're just playing with you," Asher says as Cottontail stared at him, deadpanned.

_"Did you just 'there there' me? Don't do that, that's demeaning."_

"Oops, sorry about that, buddy," Asher says.

"Why is he talking to his pet as if he can understand him?" Pepper asked as he and the other veggies sweatdropped.

"It's better to just ignore him, and let him be," Nami says before noticing that Luffy was gone. "Hey, guys? Where's Luffy?" She asked as they looked around and saw Luffy jumping over the fence. "YOU CAN'T JUST INVADE SOMEONE'S HOME LIKE THAT!" Nami yelled with shark tooth as Zoro sighed.

"Forget it, Nami. You know how Luffy is, and since he's already in, we might as well follow." Zoro says as Nami sighs, but nodded as everyone followed after Luffy.

"Ha, ha, ha! So, what happened to the goldfish?" A teenage girl asked Usopp, who was sitting on a large tree as he was telling her about one of his grand adventures. Kaya is a 17-year-old, beautiful, pale-skinned girl with blonde hair, a slim figure, and brown eyes. She wears a plain long blue dress and black flats. Her name is Kaya.

"Well, then I sliced it up into little pieces and sent them to the country of the Dwarves. And up to his day, they still haven't been able to finish eating it. Then, because of my great powers, they all called me-"

"Captain!"

"Yes, Captain...wait, what!?" Usopp says, looking down as he saw his friends and the pirates standing below on them. "Why are you all here!?" Usopp screamed with wide eyes as Kaya leans in to get a better look at the intruders.

"Who are these people?" Kaya asked as Luffy smiled.

"Hi, you must be the sick girl Kaya, right?" Luffy asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Uh, don't mind them, Kaya. These guys heard of my reputation and traveled far to see me here. They are the new members of the Usopp Pirates!" Usopp says as Luffy nodded.

"Yeah, that's true-wait a minute!" Luffy says, before screaming in annoyance as he realized what Usopp was talking about as Kaya giggled. Knowing that Usopp was lying, but she doesn't seem to mind as she found it hilarious.

"I think what our Captain is trying to say is, he needs a favor," Asher says as Kaya looks down at the admittedly cute boy in surprise.

"A favor from me?" Kaya asked as he nodded.

"Yep. We need to get a-"

"What are you doing here?!" A loud commanding voice rang out as everyone turned around and saw a tall man walking towards them as he glared at the group. The tall man is 33-years-old that has a slim figure, small glasses, and slicked black hair. He wears a black suit with two golden markings on it over a white shirt with a curious collar, with spiral-like protrusions on the edges, and a standard black tie. He also sports striped shoes. His name is Klahadore.

"Klahadore!" Kaya says, surprised to see her butler suddenly appear as Klahadore pushed up his glasses with the bare palm of his hand.

"You can't barge into a mansion like this!" Klahadore says as Asher's body grew tense. Something feels...off about this guy, but Asher couldn't help but wonder why. His pet shared the same unease as Cottontail hissed at Klahadore.

"Who's he?" Luffy bluntly asked as Usopp panicked.

"Oh, no, it's Kaya's butler," Usopp says, knowing that he will get in a lot of trouble if he gets spotted as he tries to hide.

"Uh, actually Klahadore these people are-"

"Not now, Miss Kaya," Klahadore says, interrupting Kaya as he pushed up his glasses. "You can tell me all about this riffraff after they left. Now get out all of you! Leave now unless you have some business with me." He says as Luffy smiled.

"Alright, do you think you can help us get a ship?"

"No way." He bluntly says as Luffy sulks, and Zoro comforted him. "You there, you're Usopp, right?" Klahadore asked, spotting Usopp as the teen flinched. "I've heard rumors some about you. You are very well known in the village."

"He, he, sure am," Usopp says, revealing himself since there was no point in hiding.

"I heard you've been on many adventures, quite an accomplishment for someone your age." Klahadore says, snickering a bit as he knows that Usopp's 'adventures' were all just make-believe.

"Usually, people who admire me so much call me Captain, so it's Captain Usopp to you!" Usopp says as Klahadore smirked.

"Captain, huh? That's cute. Anyway, the guards said that they've caught you lurking around here, what is your business with this establishment?"

"Errr...I heard that there is a huge mole inside the mansion, so I went to check it out!" Usopp says while nervously sweating as Klahadore laughs.

"I see that you can certainly lie so well!" He says, catching Usopp off guard as he pushed up his glasses. "I heard about your father too, you're the son of a filthy pirate!" Klahadore says as both Usopp and Asher gasped at his words. "I'm not surprised that you turned out this way, but you better stay away from Miss Kaya."

"Did he just said..."Asher says but got interrupted by Usopp as he used a grappling hook to get down from a tree and landed in front of Luffy and his crew.

"Did you just called my father a filthy pirate?!" Usopp yelled in outrage as Klahadore smirked down at him.

"You and Miss Kaya are from completely different worlds, and you know it! Is it money your after? How much do you want?" He asked as Kaya gasped in disbelief, before seething in anger as she leans out the window.

"That's enough, Klahadore! Apologize to Usopp at once!" Kaya yelled as Klahadore looked up to her.

"There is no need for me to apologize to this uncivilized person! I'm just stating facts." He says before turning to Usopp. "You know, I sympathize with your situation, Usopp. You must hate your great idiot of a father for abandoning his family, and his village because of his mindless lust for treasure."

"Klahadore, stop!" Kaya yelled as Usopp glared at Klahadore furiously.

"Don't you dare insult my father ever again!" Usopp yelled as Klahadore grinned at him smugly.

"Why have you gotten so worked up, Usopp? It's times like this that you should do what you do best, and lie. Tell me about how your father is really a traveling merchant...or, that you and him aren't really blood-related."

**BAM!**

Klahadore couldn't react in time as Usopp slugged him across his face, and sent him falling to the ground. Everyone, except Luffy and Asher, gasped in surprise over his action. Luffy remained silent while Asher smiled proudly at Usopp's actions.

"Ugh...case in point, he resorts to violence, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the-"

"SHUT UP!" Usopp furiously yelled, surprising Klahadore as Usopp lifts him up from ground by his shirt. "MY FATHER LISTENED TO HIS HEART, AND CHOOSE THE LIFE OF RISK AND ADVENTURE! I'M PROUD THAT MY FATHER IS A BRAVE PIRATE, A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA!"

"You tell him, Usopp!" Asher cheered as Usopp took a few deep breathes and calmed down as he lets go of Klahadore.

"You're right that I like to lie, but I will _never_ lie about who my father is! I refuse to be ashamed of my heritage! I'm the son of a pirate!" Usopp yelled into the heavens as Klahadore started laughing.

"Pirates are the brave warriors of the sea, are they? That's quite a twisted way of putting things." Klahadore says as he stood up and dusts himself off. "You don't seem to understand that you're living proof of his savage blood. You ran around spitting out lies, and use violence when you don't get your way. To top it off, you cozy up to the lady of the house to steal her fortune."

"You're wrong! I only-"

"YOU'RE FATHER IS A FILTHY, NO GOOD PIRATE! TREASURY IS IN YOUR BLOOD! OF COURSE, YOU WOULD'VE SUCH AN EVIL SCHEME!"

"That does it!" Usopp screamed as he ran towards Klahadore, and grabs him by his collar as he then slams him against the wall. "Let me teach a lesson for insulting my father!"

"No, Usopp! Don't do it, no more violence!" Kaya screamed as Usopp looked up at Kaya, who looks like she was about to burst into tears.

"Please...no more. Klahadore is not a bad person. He just wants to protect me, but he goes too far sometimes."

"Kaya..." Usopp says, his anger depleting as Klahadore slapped his hand away.

"...Get out of here. This is no place for a barbarian like you! Remember this! Don't you ever dare come near this house again!" Klahadore yells as Usopp glared at him and scoffed.

"Yeah, I get it. You don't need to tell me twice. This is the last you ever see of me." Usopp says before running off.

"Usopp…" Kaya says with a sad look on her face as she watched her friend go for possibly the last time.

"Hey, you butler jerk our captain's not that kind of guy!" Carrot shouted, angry at the butler for insulting his captain as his friends nodded.

"Yeah, jerk face!"

"Jerk face!"

"Jerk face!" Luffy and Asher yelled as Zoro and Nami bopped them on their heads.

"Hey! It's none of your business, so calm down!" Zoro says, holding Luffy back as Nami did the same with Asher.

"And, that goes for you too, Asher!" Nami says, struggling to hold him down as Asher growled at the butler.

"You're ass is mine, Klahadore! Come here and fight me!" Asher screamed as Nami, and the others, walked off while dragging the snarling boys. After walking for a few minutes, the gang had decided to relax on the side of the road as Nami looks down and blinks in surprise as she noticed that the boys had disappeared.

"Huh!? Where did Luffy and Asher go?" Nami asked Zoro in surprise as the swordsman shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe they went to find Usopp?" Zoro says as Pepper turned to Carrot.

"I bet Captain is in his secret spot," Pepper says as Carrot nodded.

"Yeah, over by the shore. He always goes there when he wants to think something over." Carrot says as Pepper turned to the Nami and Zoro. "Should we go see?"

"Huh? Oh, no, they will be fine." Zoro says as Nami reluctantly nodded.

"Yeah, the boys can take care of themselves, but where's your other friend?" She asked as the kids shrugged.

"Onion has a tendency of disappearing a lot."

"But he usually comes back overacting about something trivial."

"Terrible news, guys!" Onion screamed as he suddenly appeared while running towards them as Carrot gave Nami a look.

"See?" He says as Onion arrived.

"Listen to me, some weird guy is on his way here, and he's walking backward's!"

"You liar." Pepper and Carrot say in unison as Onion shakes his head.

"It's the truth! Look!" Onion says while pointing behind him as they peered over, and were surprised to see a man heading towards them while walking backward's. The man is 27-years-old with a skinny build, gray hair, heart-shaped eyes, and matching eyebrows. He wears a simple sleeveless white shirt with a blue bandana, a blue wide-brimmed hat, heart-shaped glasses, olive-green trousers, and black shoes. His name is Jango.

"Hey, who told you, brats, I'm weird? I'm just a normal guy." Jango says as Nami stared at him with a sweatdropped.

"You look pretty strange to me," Nami says as Jango shakes his head.

"Don't be silly. I'm just your run in the mill hypnotist." He says as the kids stared at him curiously.

"A hypnotist? Really? That sounds awesome!" Onion says.

"Show us something!" Pepper says as Carrot nodded.

"Yeah, do something!" Carrot says as Jango glared at them in disbelief.

"What? You fools, what makes you think that I'm going to reveal my masterful hypnosis techniques to a bunch of snot-nosed brats." Jango says as the kids looked upset.

"Oh, well, then sorry to bother you, sir-"

"Okay, you convinced me. Now watch the ring closely." Jango interrupted while pulling out a metal ring that was dangled by a string as Zoro sweatdropped.

_"What a tool."_ Zoro thought to himself as Jango dangled the ring in front of the kids.

"So by the count of Jango, you will into a deep sleep. Alright, are you ready?" Jango asked as the kids watched the ring move back and forth. "One...two...three...Jango!" The hypnotist says as the kids fell asleep...and he went asleep as well.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ASLEEP AS WELL!?" Zoro screamed with a tick mark appearing on his head as he wondered who the hell was that freaky weirdo.

* * *

Usopp sat on top of a hill that overlooked the sea as he leaned against a tree and sighed heavily. Wondering if it was really a good idea to leave Kaya. Sure her butler was a jerk, but Usopp couldn't lie and say that he liked the girl's company, plus she was the only one that he really liked his stories even if he made it up. Usopp's train of thought was interrupted by Luffy, who appeared hanging by the tree as he grinned at him.

"Hi!" Luffy says, scaring the heck out of Usopp as Asher appeared behind them with Cottontail flying close behind him.

"Don't scare me like that! What's wrong with you?!" Usopp yelled.

"Sorry." Luffy bluntly says as Asher sighed.

"I tried to warn him not to do that, but he wouldn't listen to me," Asher says as Luffy looked at Usopp curiously.

"What are you doing here?" Luffy asked as Usopp glared at him.

"I came here to be alone, but I guess that's not happening. Did you guys follow me? What do you guys want?" Usopp asked as Asher sat next to him, and Cottontail sat on his lap.

"We came here to see if you were okay," Asher says as Usopp blinked, surprised that they were worried over someone they just met.

"Really? Well, I'm still pissed about that butler. Insulting my old man like that." Usopp says as the boys nodded.

"Yeah, I hate that guy too," Luffy says while leaping out of the tree as he landed in between the boys.

"It took everything for me not to blast that guy out of the island," Asher admitted as Cottontail looked up to him curiously.

_"I'm surprised that you seemed to be angry about this. I mean, yeah, that guy was way out of line, but this seems to be personal to you."_

"Well, it kind of was," Asher says, confusing Usopp as Asher turned to him. "My father is a pirate too, so I know how you feel," Asher says as Usopp stared at him in shock.

"Wait. You're the son of a pirate as well?"

"Well, I'm his adopted son, but yeah pretty much," Asher says as lays down on the ground, and stared into the sky. "Every word that butler jackass said made me feel like he was insulting my father. Who is he to call us barbarians just because we like to sail the sea, and have fun? I may not know Yasopp as much as Luffy, but if you're anything like your father, then I'm sure that he is a great pirate." Asher says as Usopp smiled.

"Yeah, he is. I've always looked up to my old man for living every day with his life on the line. He made a brave choice, and I admire him for that." Usopp says before frowning as he tightens his fist in anger. "And, then that stupid snooty butler stomped all over my pride. He's gonna pay for this."

"Hey, wait. Do you know if you're ever going to see that girl again?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, your girlfriend seemed really upset when you left," Asher says, not noticing Cottontail sitting up suddenly as he sniffed the air and growled.

"I don't know," Usopp admitted as he sighed. "I'll consider it if that butler apologizes to me for the things he said," Usopp said, before realizing what Asher said. "Wait! She's not my girlfriend!" Usopp comically yelled as Asher tilted his head confusedly.

"But you seemed really close to that girl when we showed up. I figured you two were a thing." Asher innocently says as Usopp blushed heavily, and shakes his head rapidly.

"No, no, no! You got it all wrong! We're just friends!" Usopp defensively says as Cottontail hissed and leaped out of Asher's lap.

"Huh? What is it, boy?" Asher asked, sitting up from the ground as Cottontail pointed down below.

_"You might want to see this,"_ Cottontail says as Asher looked down, and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, what's the butler doing here?" Asher asked to himself as Usopp heard him, and grew confused.

"The butler, what are you talking about?" Usopp says as he looks down at the hill, and his eyes widen in shock as he saw Klahadore talking with Jango. "What in the world is he doing down here!?" Usopp yelled as he dropped down on the ground to not be seen.

"Huh? What's going on?" Luff says as he looked down at the hill, and his eyes widen in recognization. "Oh, hey, it's the guy from before. What is he doing here?"

"Get down!" Usopp harshly whispered as he pulled the boys down. "We need to eavesdrop on their conversation, so we need to be quiet and stay low, so they don't see us, got it?" Usopp asked as the boys nodded and peered over the edge of the hill to eavesdrop on the adult's conversation.

"Hey, Jango. I specifically ordered you to not attract the attention of the villagers, so why were you sleeping in the middle of the road?" Klahadore asked, annoyed.

"Relax, man. I perfected the skills of the chameleon, I blend in." Jango says.

"There's someone else with him, and man is he weird," Luffy says.

"Is he anyone you know, Usopp?" Asher asked as the long-nosed boy shakes his head.

"Nope, I've never seen him before. Who is he?" Usopp asked as Cottontail turned to them with an annoyed look on his face.

_"Maybe if you guys shut up and pay attention, we can find out,"_ Cottontail says as Luffy and Asher laughed nervously.

"Sorry about that." Luffy and Asher apologized as everyone went back to eavesdropping.

"So, have all the necessary preparations have been made?" Klahadore asked while pushing up his glasses as Jango nodded.

"But of course. We can start anytime on the rich girl's murder plan!" Jango yelled as the boys gasped in horror.

"Rich girl murder plan?!" Usopp, Asher, and Cottontail said in shock as Luffy remained silent.

"Don't call it murder, Jango. I don't like the sound of it." Klahadore says as Jango snickered.

"Oh, right. Accident, it's an accident...that you planned!" Jango says, before laughing as Klahadore sighs.

"We can't simply kill her. It's critical to our plan that Miss Kaya perishes in an unfortunate accident. So, don't screw that up." Klahadore says while turning around as he was about to walk away, but Jango kept talking.

"So, basically on your signal, the men and I stormed the village and manage to 'accidentally' kill the little rich girl. Then you get her inheritance, and we get paid, right?"

"You moron! Your ignorance is astounding! " Klahadore shouted as he stopped walking and gave Jango an annoyed look. "We're not related, so how will I inherit anything from her?" He asked, before sighing as Klahadore walked towards him. "Listen to me, Jango. This is the most crucial part of our plan. Before you kill her, you will use your hypnosis to make Kaya write her will. And it will say, 'I leave my entire fortune to my butler, Klahadore.'. Then, and _only_ then will I have undisputed control over her enormous fortune. And, no one will suspect a thing. I have spent 3 long years gaining the trust of everyone around me so that it will be unsurprising for her to leave the entirety of her inheritance to me." Klahadore says while pushing up his glasses as he grinned sinisterly.

"That bastard. Killing an innocent girl like that." Asher says while gritting his teeth in anger as his hand made small explosions. "He's going to pay for this." He says as Usopp trembled in fear.

"3 years as a butler for this, huh?" Jango says as he stared out into the ocean, and grinned. "You sure had us scared back then, Captain Kuro," Jango says as Kuro sneered at the name. "3 years ago, you said that you were suddenly giving up the life of a pirate. In no time at all, you set up someone to be your double, then you let the world see Captain Kuro get executed. Only now do I understand that it was just the beginning of this plan. You are the man of a thousand plans, Captain Kuro."

"Never call me that again!" Kuro yelled, causing Jango to flinch as his captain pushed up his glasses. "I've abandoned that name years ago, Jango. I now wish to obtain my wealth without attracting the attention of the World Government. In other words, I'm a pacifist." Kuro says with a smile as Jango laughed...hard.

"Uhyahahya! Some pacifist you are! Murdering an entire family doesn't exactly scream peacefulness!"

"Now hold on, I haven't murdered an entire family. The father's death wasn't planned." Kuro says, defending himself as Jango shrugs.

"Whatever you say, it doesn't make a difference to me. If it's all the same with you, hurry up and give the word. The crew's getting bored, we've been waiting near here for over a week, and the men are growing more anxious by the minute."

_"This is horrible! This is really horrible!"_ Usopp thought to himself as Luffy turned to him.

"What are they talking about? Is it bad guy stuff?" Luffy asked, not paying attention at all to the conversation as Usopp and Cottontail stared at him in disbelief.

"What!? Weren't you listening to any of that!?" Usopp yelled as Cottontail nodded.

_"Yeah, those guys are not just bad, they're worse than that!"_ Cottontail screams as Asher decided to explain what they heard to his captain.

"Captain, Kuro has been impersonating as a butler to kill Kaya so he can get her inheritance," Asher says, before turning to Usopp. "But who is Captain Kuro anyway?" He asked as Usopp stared at him in shock.

"How do you not know about Captain Kuro? Were you living under a rock or something?" He rhetorically asked as Asher shakes his head.

"No. I have been living on a deserted island that is filled with monsters. But seriously, who is he?" Asher asked as Usopp shivered, and looked down at Kuro.

"Captain Kuro is the captain of the Black Cat Pirates, and is known for not only for his intelligence but for his brutality as well! Word had it that the marines caught, and executed him 3 years ago, but Captain Kuro is alive and well. And, he's planning to get kaya's fortune! First, he will attack the village, then he will kill Kaya! This is bad!" Usopp panicked as Asher turned to Luffy, and gave him a serious look.

"This is horrible, captain. We can't let them get away with this, we need to stop him before he and his crew set foot on the village." Asher says as Luffy nodded.

"You're right. Let's stop this." Luffy says with his hat covering his eyes as Cottontail nodded.

_"I agree, but we can't approach this without a plan. I will fly in and alert the rest of our crew so that we can-" _Cottontail says, before getting interrupted by Luffy as he stood up, and glared at the pirates down below.

"Hey, bad guys! You better stay away from that rich girl!" Luffy screamed as Usopp freezes and falls down as he cried comically.

"Yeah! Leave that girl alone, or else I will shove this up in your ass!" Asher threatens while pulling out one of his shurikens.

_"...Or you guys do whatever you want, and I still alert our crew members. Just keep them busy long enough for me to get back up."_ Cottontail says as Asher nodded.

"We will." He says as Cottontail flew off.

"Who are you?" Jango says as he and Kuro looked up at them in surprise.

"You idiots! They spotted us! Hurry up and hide before they kill us!" Usopp says while grabbing their arms as he tried to tug them down, but the boys nonchalantly escaped from his weak grip as they stared down at the pirates with angry looks on their faces.

"Well, now if it isn't, Usopp," Kuro says as Usopp paled.

"GAAAHH! I WAS SPOTTED TOO!" Usopp screamed as Kuro glared at the boys.

"Did you hear...anything interesting?" Kuro asked as Usopp rapidly shakes his head.

"I-Interesting?! Of course not! We didn't hear a thing! We just got here, so we didn't hear anything interesting at all!"

"We heard the whole thing." Luffy bluntly says as Asher nodded.

"Yeah, we know your plans about killing Kaya, and we won't let that happen!"

"Why would you tell them that?! Are you trying to get us killed?!" Usopp hysterically cried as Kuro pushed up his glasses, and gave Jango a look.

"Well, if you say so," Jango says, understanding his hidden message as he pulled out his ring, and Kuro covered his eyes. "Pay attention, boys, and watch this ring closely!" Jango says while waving his ring around.

"Hmmm, okay," Luffy says as Asher stared at the ring curiously.

"Huh? What is he going to do with that? Throw it at us or something?" Asher asked as Usopp whimpered and hid behind the Bomb Man.

"He probably will, we need to hide!" Usopp says while ducking down, but the idiotic boys stayed put.

"On the count of Jango, you will fall into a deep sleep-"

"But I'm not tired." Asher interrupted as Jango stared at him, confused.

"Huh?"

"I said I'm not tired, I already took my nap. Besides, how is a ring supposed to make me fall asleep?"

"Yeah, that sounds dumb," Luffy says as Jango stared at the boys with a deadpanned look.

"...One, two, three, Jango!" Jango says as the boys instantly went asleep...including the hypnotist...again.

"Jango, you idiot! Even after all this time, you still haven't fixed that annoying problem of yours." Kuro says while helping Jango stand up.

"Hey! Be careful, you guys! You're going to fall!" Usopp says, noticing Luffy and Asher swaying back and forth. Before he could grab them, the boys fell off the cliff and landed harshly on the ground below.

"Poor kids. They just had to go and fall off a cliff. A pity though, I didn't mean to kill them, but there is no way they will survive." Jango says, waking up as he walked over to their limp bodies, and noticed that Asher actually landed his head on a rock, and cracked it. "Especially this one," Jango says as Usopp trembled in horror.

"T-This can't be happening! They killed them! They're really dead!" Usopp mumbles as Jango looked up to him.

"What about the long-nosed one? Should I take care of him?" Jango asked as Kuro shakes his head.

"There's no need, everything he will say will sound like lies. Jango tomorrow at daybreak, the men are too attack the village. Tell them to ruff up the houses and kill a few of them, but above all else, make sure that Miss Kaya's death looks like an accident."

"T-Tomorrow?!" Usopp says as Kuro looks up to him, and grinned as he pushed up his glasses.

"Just accept it, Usopp! There is nothing you can say or warn the villagers of this impending tragedy!" He says as Usopp screamed in fear, and ran off to warn the village.

"Are you sure about that one?" Jango asked, not wanting the plan to be ruined as Kuro nodded.

"Of course, my plans are flawless," Kuro says as he and Jango walked off.

"I can't believe this! This is terrible! I got to do something! Everyone I grew up in the village is in danger!" Usopp yelled as flashes of the little veggies, and the people of the village appeared on his mind. "I can't let that happen to the people I love!" Usopp says as an image of Kaya appeared on his mind. "No!" Usopp screamed as he ran with all of its might to the village.

* * *

"Where are you taking us, you dumb rat?" Zoro says, annoyed with Cottontail as the small animal was pulling him by the ear towards the boy's location as the others followed. Amused by the sight of a grown man being pulled by a small animal. Earlier that day, while they were relaxing on the side of the road, Cottontail showed up looking frantic as he gestured for them to follow him. When they didn't, Cottontail resorted by pulling on Zoro's ear with his teeth and forced him and the others to follow him.

"He's probably taking us to where the boys are, and judging by how insistent he is on us following him, something bad must be happening to the boys." Nami deduced.

"It looks like Cottontail is taking us to where the captain tends to go to blow off steam," Carrot says as he pointed at the big cliff that they were walking towards. After a few minutes of walking, the group blinks in surprise as they saw Usopp running towards them, and the kids beamed.

"Captain!" The kids yelled as Zoro, Cottontail, and Nami looks confused.

"Wait, I thought Luffy and Asher were supposed to be with him?" Zoro asked as Cottontail laid on his shoulder.

"Captain!" The kids yelled again as they were about to greet their captain, but Usopp runs past them.

"Hey, do you know where the boys are-" Nami says before trailing off as Usopp ran past her without saying a word as he heads towards the village. "Wow, he looks upset, but why? Is he still mad at the butler?" Nami asked.

_"No, he didn't look angry. If anything, he looks traumatized. Like if something horrible just happened."_ Cottontail says before shutting up as his eyes widen in realization. _"Something must've happened to the boys! Come on, we got to go!"_ Cottontail says as he flew off of Zoro's shoulder and bit on his ear.

"Ow! Will you quit that!?" Zoro says as Cottontail pulls him closer to the shore, and the others followed. After a few minutes of walking and Zoro threatening to cut the big-eared animal, the gang had finally made it to the cliff as they searched for the boys.

"The rocks sure are loose," Nami says while looking over the edge of the cliff as small pebbles fell off below her.

"Nami, be careful," Zoro says as she nodded.

"I will," Nami says as she looks down the cliff, and saw the boys laying across the terrain. "Hey! Look down there!" Nami yelled as the others peered over the edge, and their eyes widen in shock.

"Luffy/_Asher_/Straw Hat guy/One eye guy!" Zoro, Cottontail, and the little veggies all but screamed as they quickly ran down the cliff and rushed over to the boys.

"Luffy! Asher! No! How did this happen!?" Nami screamed in horror with tears streaming down her face as the boys laid down on the ground, not moving whatsoever.

"They must've fallen over the edge!" Carrot screamed.

"So, that's why the captain looks so upset!" Pepper shouted.

"T-They're dead! They're really dead!" Onion yelled as he and the other veggies started panicking, and Nami tried to calm them down. In the middle of their panicking, Cottontail flew over his owner and stares at him emotionless for a few seconds before kicking his head.

_"Wake up, you idiot!"_ Cottontail screamed as Asher shot up instantly, startling everyone as he yawned.

"Man, was that a good nap," Asher says before blinking. "Wait, where am I?" Asher asked as everyone stared at him in surprise just as Luffy woke up as he yawns.

"Good morning, guys." Luffy nonchalantly says as Nami and the little veggies stared at them in shock.

"HOW ARE YOU TWO ALIVE!?" They screamed as the boys blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean?" They asked.

"You two fell off the cliff and crashed landed against the shore. It makes sense why Luffy's alive since he's made of rubber, but what about you, Asher? Nobody could survive that kind of fall without suffering some kind of injury." Zoro says, slightly impressed with the boy's durability as Asher grins.

"Oh, that's because I'm strong," Asher says as everyone sweatdropped at his simplistic explanation.

_"That doesn't exactly explain anything."_ They all thought to themselves.

"Oh, if you guys wanted to know, pirates are going to storm the village tomorrow and kill Kaya." Luffy bluntly says as everyone's eyes widen in surprise.

"WHAT!?"

"Let me explain, we overheard Klahadore talking to some weird guy named Jango about storming the village tomorrow with pirates. And, that's not all because apparently, Klahadore is not who he says he is because he is actually Captain Kuro in disguise. He had this master plan to masquerade as a butler for Kaya for several years before killing her and stealing her fortune." Asher says.

"But they're not related, so how would he receive her fortune?" Nami asked.

"That's where that weird guy comes in. Jango is going to hypnotize Kaya into leaving all of her money to Klahadore. And, then, once Kaya writes him into her will, Kuro is going to order his men to kill her in cold blood." Asher says as the little veggies panicked.

"So, what made you two think that it was a good time to take a nap?" Zoro asked as Luffy grinned.

"That's the thing I don't remember falling asleep or getting down here at all."

"Yeah, me neither. It was all a big blur." Asher says before his eyes widen as memories of what happened appeared on his mind. "Wait, now I remembered! Jango used that ring to hypnotize us into falling asleep, and fell down here!" Asher says as Cottontail facepalmed.

_"Only you will be dumb enough to fall for that trick easily."_ He says as the little veggies huddled up.

"This proves it! Klahadore is a bad guy!" Carrot says

"Usopp saw right through it!" Pepper says.

"I bet he's on his way to warn the villagers, so they will have time to run away!" Onion says.

"Well, that's perfect! Those stupid pirates won't hurt anyone because the town will be abandoned by the time they show up." Nami says.

"Yeah, that's right! We better run away too if we want to live!" Carrot says

"Alright, let's pack our treasure, and run like the wind!" Onion says as the kids turned around, and ran away screaming.

"Oh, no!" Luffy gasped as everyone turned to him.

"What's up?" Zoro asked as Luffy panicked.

"We got to hurry up and buy some meat before the butcher leaves!" Luffy screamed as everyone faceplanted.

"That's not important, you idiot!" Zoro chastised as he bonks Luffy on the head with the blunt end of his sword.

"Captain, I think we should be more worried about the villagers then food right now," Asher says with a sweatdrop as Cottontail shakes his head.

_"He really needs to get his priorities straight."_

"How about we go and find Usopp, so we can help him evacuate the village?" Nami suggested as everyone nodded, and walked off. After walking for a few minutes and catching up with the little veggies. The gang had met up with Usopp, and the teens were shocked to see that Usopp's body was covered with bruises, his nose was broken, and his left arm was bleeding from a bullet wound.

"Captain!" The little veggies yelled as Usopp stiffens, and turned to them with a fake smile.

"Hey, how's going, guys?" Usopp says before freezing up as he saw Luffy and Asher standing behind his friends, alive and well. "What the!? How are you two alive?!" Usopp yelled while running towards them as Luffy stared at him, confused

"Alive? What do you mean? All I did was take a nap." Luffy says as Usopp stares at him in disbelief.

"I will tell you about it later," Asher promised Usopp as the little veggies ran up to their captain.

"Captain, we heard all about the pirates and their evil plan," Carrot says.

"We better warn the village so that they will have time to get away." Onion says as Usopp went silent, confusing the kids as his body began trembling. "Captain?" Onion asked as Usopp slowly looks down at them before grinning as he laughed.

"Well, obviously, I'm lying like usual!" Usopp yelled, surprising the kids as Asher and others stared at him, unconvinced. Knowing that he was lying but didn't say anything as Usopp rubs his neck sheepishly. "That butler made me so mad with what he said that I thought I get him back by saying that he was a pirate!" Usopp yelled as he and the kids started laughing.

"But-" Asher says, about to call him out on his lie as Zoro held out his hand, and motioned him to be quiet. The Bomb Man tilted his head confusedly at the swordsman before nodding as he kept his mouth shut.

"Oh, I get it! You put the Straw Hat guy and the one eye guy on it too!" Onion says as the little kids continued laughing and walked away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Usopp asked as the kids turned around and glared at him.

"Honestly, you really disappointed me," Carrot says.

"Yeah, even though that butler guy is a jerk, I thought you were better than to lie to hurt someone, and I admire you for your being such a kindhearted person." Onion says.

"And to think we respected you this whole time," Pepper says as Usopp winced, and grew sad at the harsh words his friends were giving him as they walked away. A few minutes later, we see the gang standing by the shore as Nami was treating Usopp's wounds.

"Hold still," Nami says to a whimpering Usopp as he squirmed in his seat, and she finished wrapping up his arm. "There you go," Nami says as Usopp muttered a thank you, and stared at the ground with an unreadable look on his face.

"So, why did you lied to them?" Luffy asked as Usopp sighed.

"Because all I do is lie," Usopp answered. "There's no way anybody was going to believe, why should they?"

"Because what you were telling them was the honest truth," Zoro says.

"They're coming, and they're going to level this town," Nami says.

_"Slaughter the villagers,"_ Cottontail says.

"And, they're going to kill Kaya so that Captain Kuro can steal her money," Asher says as Usopp sighed.

"What am I supposed to do? They'll think I'm lying if I try to warn them. Everyone is going to think that tomorrow is going to be a normal boring day." Usopp says as he gritted his teeth in anger and stood up. "They think I'm lying, and that's all they need to think because I'm going to stop the pirates tomorrow at the beach myself!" Usopp exclaimed as everyone stared at him in surprise for his bold claim. "This is all my fault for being such a liar. I don't care anymore if they drive me away with pitchforks or shoot me in the arm because this is _my_ village, it's my home, and I love everyone in it! I _have_ to protect them!" Usopp says with tears streaming down his face as Asher grinned and smacked his hands together as he produced mini-explosions.

"Okay, Usopp, you convinced me. Me and my friends will stay here, and help you protect your village." Asher says as Usopp stares at him, surprised.

"You've got a noble heart, Usopp. Sending your cronies away, so that you can fight those pirates on your own." Zoro says as he tightens his grip on his swords.

_"That takes guts, kid. I'm in."_ Cottontail says.

"Just for you can know I got dibs on all the pirate treasure, you got it," Nami says as Cottontail sweatdropped.

_"Looks like Luffy is not the only one that should learn to get their priority straight."_

"So, you want a little help or what?" Luffy asked while stretching his limbs as Usopp stared at them with his jaw dropped. Not believing that these strangers are so willing to protect a village that they have no obligation to help as he teared up again.

"...Y-You're really gonna help me? I don't understand."

"Well, you said that there's a whole bunch of bad guys, right?" Luffy asked.

"And you looked scared out of your mind." Zoro pointed out.

"S-Scared? D-Don't be ridiculous! I'm the brave Captain Usopp! I got nerves of steel, so I don't care if I'm horribly outnumbered!" Usopp says as Asher raised an eyebrow.

"Usopp, stop lying. Your legs are shaking." Asher says while pointing at his shaking legs as Usopp cursed.

"Crap, not now," Usopp says as he slaps his knees before sighing in defeat as he glared at the group. "Okay, fine! I'm scared, but what do you expect?! I'm going up against Captain Kuro and his men! Those guys mean business! If you guys are only helping me because you feel sorry for me, then beat it! I don't need your pity!" Usopp shouted as Zoro scoffed.

"Who the hell said we pitied you? We're helping you because you are an honorable man, Usopp." Zoro says.

"You really think we risk our lives out of pity?" Luffy asked as Asher looks down at Usopp, and gave him a soft look.

"We want to help you because we are impressed by your bravery, and we also don't want to see innocent people die tomorrow. So, shut up and accept our help, because quite frankly, you're not in the condition to fight anyone." Asher says as Usopp sobbed, and teared up.

"...You guys...!" Usopp whimpered, feeling sincerely grateful for their help as Asher grinned.

"Well, we better come up with a plan and rest up because tomorrow is time to blow those pirates to kingdom come!" Asher says, feeling excited for his first real fight against pirates as he tightened his fist, and mini-explosions popped out.

* * *

**And done! I hope you guys the chapter.**

**Anyway, as always, I will catch you all later.**


	3. Final Showdown with Captain Kuro!

**Hey, guys! Welcome to the new chapter of Bomb's Away! I hope you guys will enjoy the chapter...aslo, I don't own anything, except for my OC'S.**

**NOW LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY!**

{Season 1, Episode 3: Showdown between Captain Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates!/Heading off to see with a lying Sniper!}**  
**

"Alright, they're going to attack from this shore at daybreak." Usopp explains to his new friends as they were climbing up a slope that leads to Usopp's village. "But the only route into the village is this one slope. Everything else is a cliff, making it tougher for them to come through." Usopp says before turning to the Strawhats as he crossed his arms and gave them a serious look. "This means, as long as we guard this slope with our lives, the village won't be harmed."

"Oh, that sounds easy." Luffy says as Usopp frowns and shakes his head.

"Easier said than done, but the rest will depend...what can you guys do again?"

"Cutting." Zoro says bluntly.

"Stretching." Luffy says while stretching his arm.

"Stealing." Nami says with a cat-like grin as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Exploding." Asher says proudly while crossing his arms.

_"Flying."_ Cottontail says while perching on Asher's shoulder.

"Hiding." Usopp admitted meekly as the group glared at him.

"YOU'RE FIGHTING TOO!" The Strawhats yelled angrily with Luffy going as far as to grab Usopp in a chokehold as the long-nosed boy gasped for air.

"I'm just kidding, guys! Jeez!" Usopp shouted as Luffy lets go of him, and he fell on the floor as he coughed. After catching his breath, Usopp ran off and came back while carrying dozens of barrels in his arms as he drops them on the ground. Curious, the teens watched as Usopp opens up each of the barrels and pours oil slick down the slope as Asher tilted his head confusedly.

"Uh, Usopp, what are you doing?" Asher asked as Usopp finished emptying the barrels and stood up as he smirked at the young pirates.

"Well, you see Asher, I'm pouring oil slick down the slope so that they won't be able to climb up and reach the village! We'll let them slip and slide on this slope, then we'll beat the crap out of them while they fail about!"

"Impressive strategy there, Usopp." Asher says while punching his shoulder playfully as Usopp yelped in pain, but smiled at him nonetheless as he discretely rubs his shoulder.

"Oil, huh?" Nami asked amusedly while inspecting the oil as Usopp's face hardened, and he crossed his arms.

"No matter what, we will protect this slope!"

"Just don't fall down there yourself, or you're screwed," Nami says as Luffy nodded while touching the oil with his feet as Cottontail flew down next to him, and licked the oil as he winced, and spits the oil out of his mouth.

"I'm amazed that you can think up stuff this sneaky." Luffy says to Usopp, who smirked proudly as he crossed his arms.

"But of course! When it comes to cheekiness and playing dirty, I'm utterly confident!"

_"That's not really something to be proud about."_ Cottontail says with a sweatdrop as the Strawhats smiled at Usopp amusedly, but then Zoro spotted something in the distance that made his eyes narrow as he gripped his swords tightly.

"It's almost daybreak. They'll be coming."

"And we will be ready." Asher says while crossing his arms as he and the others waited for the pirates to show up.

[30 minutes later]

"Where are they? The sky's all bright now. What's the deal?" Luffy asked with an annoyed tone as he and the others were standing around with bored looks on their faces.

"You don't suppose they slept in or something?" Zoro asked as Usopp and Asher shakes their heads.

"No. They'll definitely show up. Lots of them." Usopp says as Asher nodded.

"Yeah, I may not know Captain Kuro as Usopp here, but he seems rather serious with his plan. Trust me, they'll be here." Asher says before suddenly staying still as his sensitive ears picked up a weird sound coming from the distance. "Hey, guys, do you hear that?"

"Hear what? I don't hear anything." Usopp says as Nami suddenly shots up and looks around in confusion.

"Hey, I'm hearing it too," Nami says before narrowing her eyes as she placed her hands on her ears. "Hey, Asher, this may be my imagination, but do you hear a group of people chanting 'Go!' from the north side of the island?"

"I think I do." Asher says as Usopp suddenly went still, and sweated nervously.

"Did you say, 'North'?" Usopp asked as the Strawhats narrowed their eyes at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, why?" Nami asks as Usopp looks away with a thoughtful look.

"Well..."

"Spit it out, Usopp!" Zoro yelled, annoyed as Usopp placed his hands on his head panickily.

"There's a place just like this to the north, too!" Usopp shouted as everyone's jaw dropped in shock.

"What!? Do you mean to tell me that we're on the wrong slope?!" Asher yelled in disbelief as Usopp raised his hands in surrender.

"This is where they had their secret meeting, so I just assumed that they'll attack from this side!"

"Ah, that seems reasonable," Asher says calmly while nodding as Luffy suddenly grabbed Usopp by his shoulders and gave him a serious look.

"Quick, which way are they going to attack the village from?" Luffy asked urgently as Usopp nodded and pointed ahead.

"If you run straight north here, you'll get there in three minutes! The terrain there is almost exactly the same, so we just need to stop them at the slope." Usopp explains as everyone nodded in understandably.

"Got it. Don't worry, Usopp. Defeating those dorks will be a piece of cake!" Asher says with a confident smirk as Usopp smiled and nodded as they were about to run off, but then-

"Oh, no!" Nami screamed panickily as the boys turned to her, and saw her grabbing in hair in horror. "The north shore is where our boats are!" Nami screamed as Asher gasped worriedly.

"Oh, crap! Do you think they're going to steal our boats or something?"

"No, you idiot!" Nami yelled while bonking him in the head as he yelped in pain. "They're going to steal my treasure!"

_"That's what you're worried about?!"_ Cottontail asked in disbelief as Luffy narrowed his eyes in determination.

"I'll be there in 20 seconds!" Luffy screamed before running away as Usopp gasped, and held his head in realization.

"Ah, dammit! I just realized that my brilliant oil strategy was all for nothing!"

"Not the time, Usopp." Asher says while still rubbing his head as he ran off, and Usopp follows him.

"My treasure..." Nami says while looking down with an emotionless look as Zoro raised an eyebrow at her and elbowed her slightly.

"What are you doing just standing around there? Let's go, you too, rat." Zoro says to Cottontail, who rolled his eyes as he formed his wings and began flapping in the air.

"Right!" Nami shouted while shaking her head as she took one step forwards, and yelped as she began slipping in the oil slick. "Help! I'm falling!" Nami screamed while reflexively grabbing Zoro's boot as she started pulling him down.

"Hey! Let go, you moron!" Zoro screamed in annoyance as he reached out for something to grab onto and accidentally grabbed Cottontail's tail as he yanked him down to the floor.

_"Ow! Hey! What are you doing!? Let go of my tail!"_ Cottontail squeaked in pain as he struggled to sit up, but got soaked up in oil as he slipped and fell down the slope as he knocks into Zoro, and drags him down. Nami gasped before reacting quickly as she leaped up and landed on Zoro's body as she travels across his back and then jumped towards Cottontail's body as she used him as a springboard and jumped to safety as her screaming crewmates slides down the shore.

"Sorry about that, boys, but my treasure is in danger! I'm sure you two would find your own way up, so bye!" Nami says before running away as Zoro watched her go in disbelief before gritting his teeth in anger.

"Nami! I'm going to kill you!"

_"And I'm going to kill you!"_ Cottontail screamed in anger while leaping towards Zoro as he tackled him to the floor, and begins scratching his face.

"Get off me, you stupid rat!" Zoro yelled while trying to push Cottontail off of his face as the small animal continued scratching him.

"Dammit! Where did Luffy go!?" Asher asked in annoyance while running across the island at fast speeds as Usopp struggled to catch up to him.

"I don't know, but Asher, we can't allow them to enter the village! The villager's lives depend on us!" Usopp yelled as Asher nodded.

"Right!" Asher says before slowing down as he grabbed Usoop's arm and ran off at max speed as Usopp screamed in fright.

"Straight north! Straight north! Straight north!" Luffy chanted while running across a forest as he panted slightly.

"They're in big trouble if they touch my treasure!" Nami shouted angrily as she ran across the shoreside.

Meanwhile, at the north side of the island, we see a giant cat-like ship docking on the beach as Jango leaps down with a group of cat-themed pirates following right behind him as they landed beside him. Jango stood up as he grinned sinisterly and commanded the group of pirates to raid the village as they complied with his orders and ran up a slope as they were about to enter the village. When suddenly, Asher appeared with his hands glowing bright pink as he leaped into the air and pulled out 6 shurikens in his hands as he infused them with his explosive energy.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bombs Away!"** Asher screamed while throwing the small projectiles towards the running pirates as they exploded upon impact, and half of the pirates screamed in pain as they were blown away from the explosion.

"What the!?" Jango asked in disbelief just as Usopp showed up as he pulls out his slingshot and sends out a volley of pachinko's that took out the half of the pirates that survived Asher's attack. "What the hell is going on!?"

"There are two people standing on top of the hill!" A small pirate says while pointing as Jango looked up and gasped as he saw Usopp glaring down at him while trembling slightly in fear.

"You!" Jango shouted while narrowing his eyes as Asher dropped down from the sky and landed beside Usopp as he smirked at him, and Jango gasped in surprise. "You! How are you alive!? I saw you falling off a cliff!"

"Oh, I survived because I'm strong." Asher explained bluntly as Jango grits his teeth in annoyance

"THAT DOESN'T EXACTLY EXPLAIN ANYTHING!" He shouted as Usopp narrowed his eyes and stepped forwards.

"Enough! My name is Captain Usopp! And this is my first mate, Asher!"

"Excuse me?" Asher asked with a raised eyebrow as Usopp shushes him, and turned back to the Black Cat Pirates as he glared at them.

"We've been waiting for you all this time, and we're completely ready to fight! Right, Asher?" Usopp asked Asher while trembling in fear as Asher raised an eyebrow, but nodded hesitantly as Usopp smirked at the evil pirates nervously. "Turn back now if you don't want to die!" Usopp shouted as the pirates stared at him, unimpressed as the sniper panics and leaned over to Asher's side. "Why are we the first ones here!? Luffy was running way ahead of us, where is he?" He whispered as Asher shrugs.

"Don't know, maybe he got lost."

"Damm it, let go off me, you dumb rat!" Zoro yelled as he managed to grab hold of Cottontail and threw him to the ground as Cottontail hissed at him, and Zoro raised his hands in surrender. "Look, I'm sorry for pulling our tail and whatnot, but all of this is Nami's fault, so why don't we work together to find a way up this slope and kick Nami's ass?" Zoro suggested as Cottontail stopped hissing and thought carefully as he nodded.

"Good. So, got any ideas on how we get up that slope without slipping?" Zoro asked amusedly, only to blink in surprise as Cottontail nodded and grew spikes on his body as he wrapped up into a ball and roll up the slope as he cleared a pathway for Zoro to walk on. "...Okay, so, you're not a dumb rat after all." Zoro says with a mildly impressed look on his face as Cottontail unrolled on the top of the cliff and smirked at the swordsman as Zoro smirked back and ran up the cliff.

"Eh!? How the hell did I arrive at the village!? I thought I was running to the north shore?!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise/disbelief as he ran out of the forest and somehow appeared in the village. Back with Usopp and Asher, we see them glaring at the Black Cat Pirates as Jango narrows his eyes and steps forwards as he glared at the boys.

"I know you," Jango says while pointing at Usopp, who flinched at being called out. "You're that boy who overheard our plan," Jango says before turning to Asher as he narrowed his eyes. "And, your one of the boys that I hypnotized. What are you two doing here?" He asked as Asher smirked and crossed his arms.

"We're here to beat you up." He says as Usopp nodded shakily.

"Y-Yeah! So turn back now or else me, my first mate, and my 100 million crewmen will destroy you all!" Usopp shouted as Asher raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wait, I thought you didn't have a crew of 100 million men."

"Shut up, you idiot!" Usopp hissed at him as the Black Eye Pirates stared at the sniper blankly.

"...What a stupid lie." One of the pirates says, voicing what everyone was thinking, except for Jango as he gasped in horror.

"WHAT!? 100 MILLION!?" He exclaimed in surprise/awe as his crew stared at him blankly while sweatdropping.

"He's obviously lying, Captain!" One of his crew members yelled.

"He's so naïve." Another pirate says while shaking his head at his gullible captain.

_"Yikes! They saw right through my lie!"_ Usopp thought to himself panickily as the pirates glared at him.

"That kid is really trying to trick us!" A tall Black Cat Pirate shouted as Jango composed himself and glared at the boys.

"How dare you trick me?!" Jango shouted as a small, ugly pirate walks over to his captain.

"Captain Jango! Shocking news!"

"Really!? That bad?!" Jango asked in surprise/horror while turning to him as the pirate shakes his head.

"No! It's not bad! We found treasure in those weird boats!" He says while pointing at the boat that Asher and the others arrived in as another pirate found a bag filled with a money sign on it. "It's filled with maybe 4 or 5 million berries!"

"What!?" Jango screamed in surprise/delight as Usopp jaw dropped.

"F-Five million berries!? Why is there so much money on your boats!?" Usopp asked Asher, who shrugs.

"It's mostly come from Nami. She likes to steal a lot of money and keep it for herself. She doesn't allow us to touch it. The one time I try to grab a couple of berries, she threw me overboard. I nearly drowned if it wasn't for Zoro." Asher says while laughing nervously as he sweatdropped. Usopp stared at him silently for a few seconds before gasping as an idea came into his head, and he turned to Jango and his crew.

"That's my treasure! But you can have it!" Usopp says as Asher's eyes widen in surprise, and the pirates gasped in shock.

"What!? You'll just give us the treasure?!" Jango asked as Usopp nodded.

"That's right, but only if you leave this island alone and never come back again!"

"Uh, Usopp, I don't think its a smart idea to negotiate with Nami's money. She gets _really_ mad if someone messes with her money." Asher says nervously as Usopp shushes him.

"What!? You think you can buy us off with money!?"

"What a disgraceful guy!"

"Yeah, screw that twerp!" Numerous pirates muttered in anger as Jango smirked with shadows covering his eyes.

"...Are you stupid? You do realize we have your money, right? We can just take it and raid the village anyway."

"...Huh, he's actually right. You didn't really think this through." Asher says to Usopp, who nodded meekly as Jango pulls out his hypnotizing ring, and swung it back and forth.

"Alright, then. We don't have time for a fight, so on 'One...two...Jango!', you two will let us pass by." Jango says as Usopp and Asher gasped.

"It's that weapon from before! Asher, cover your eyes!"

"On it!" Asher says as he and Usopp covered their eyes, not noticing a familiar orange-haired girl running up to them.

"One...two...Jan-"

"You idiot!" Nami shouted while appearing behind the boys with her bo staff as she whacked Usopp upside his head, and he yelped in pain as he was sent flying to the floor.

"Who the heck is that girl?!" A pirate asked as a blonde pirate turned to his captain, and sweatdropped as he realized that his captain had once again hypnotized himself.

"Captain, this is no time to hypnotize yourself and let people by!" He screamed, snapping Jango out of his trance as Nami rose up and glared at the group of pirates as she gripped her bo staff tightly.

"Listen up, you filthy pirates! That boat's treasure is mine! I won't let you have a single Berry! Put everything you stole back right now!" She shouted with a fierce aura covering her body as the pirates shrank back in fear.

_"How is it that Nami is scarier than anything I've ever seen in my life?"_ Asher thought to himself with a sweatdrop as Nami turned to Usopp, who had recovered from her surprise attack as she glared at him. "How could you give away someone else's treasure?"

"Ugh, ow, you could've told me that. Why did you hit me and not Asher?" Usopp asked while standing up as Nami glared at him.

"Because he knows his place, unlike you, maybe I should beat it into you!" Nami says while raising his staff as Usopp panicked and raised his arms in surrender.

"No, please, I'm sorry! I will never give away your treasure again!" Usopp says, causing Nami to calm down as she looks around.

"Where's Luffy? Wasn't he running ahead of you guys?" Nami asked as Usopp shrugs.

"Dunno. He either chickened out or got lost." Usopp says as Asher shakes his head.

"Chickened out? Not likely, it makes more sense if he got lost." Asher says as Nami groaned.

_"He's lost? Great, and when we need him too."_ Nami thought to herself as she shook her head in annoyance.

"Well, I'm going to take command here, go kick their butts, you two! I'll cover you!" Usopp says while taking a few steps back as Asher nodded.

"Sure thing." Asher says as he took a few steps forwards but then yelped as Nami yanked him back.

"Hold on a minute," Nami says to Asher before turning to Usopp as she glared at him. "How the hell do you expect me to fight them!? I'm weak as shit!" Nami shouted as Usopp glared back at her.

"Ha, ha, ha, don't underestimate me just because I'm a guy! I'm so scared my legs are shaking like crazy! See?!" Usopp says while pointing at his trembling legs as Nami scoffed.

"Big deal! See look! I'm so scared that I have tears in my eyes!" Nami says while leaning closer to Usopp as Asher and the other pirates stared at the cowards confusedly.

"Your eyes are bone dry! If your gonna lie, lie more realistically!" Usopp says as Nami growled at him in annoyance.

_"They forgot about us!"_ The Black Cat Pirates thought to themselves while sweatdropping as Asher stepped forwards.

"Uh, guys?" Asher asked as Nami and Usopp turned to him. "Why don't I just fight them myself?" Asher asked as they blinked in shock.

"You will do that?" They asked as Asher nodded.

"Sure, besides, I've been itching for a fight all day." Asher says with a grin as Usopp and Nami nodded dumbly, and stepped aside as Asher marched over to the pirates.

"Ha, ha, ha, you have to be stupid if you think only one person can stop the Black Cat pirate crew!" Jango shouted before turning to his crew. "Men! Storm the village! Destroy everything!" He commanded as they nodded and charged up the slope towards Asher, who grins as he cracks his knuckles.

"This is going to be fun." Asher says before sprinting towards the pirates as his body was covered in a pink aura.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Throw!"** Asher yelled as he grabbed a short bearded pirate by his arm and infused him with his aura as he started twirling him around, and then threw him to a couple of other pirates as the bearded pirate explode upon impact with their bodies, and they were sent flying through the air.

"What the hell?" A pirate with an eyepatch asked as Asher turned to him and grinned as the one-eyed pirate shook in fear.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Missle Strike!"** Asher shouted as his feet blew up, and sends him flying to the pirate as he delivered a devasting headbutt to his stomach that caused the evil pirate to kneel over in agonizing pain as Asher stood up, and glanced over to see a group of pirates charging at him as he grinned and leaped up as he pulled out multiple shurikens.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Landmine!"** Asher shouted as he used his inhuman strength to throw his shurikens so hard that they buried themselves against the slope. The oblivious pirates didn't have time to reach as one of them accidentally stepped over a shuriken, and set off a chain reaction that blew away half of the Black Cat's pirate crew.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"This kid is a monster!"

"He's going to kill us!" Multiple pirates said as Asher landed on the ground, and then cartwheeled over to an unsuspecting pirate as he appeared in front of him, and readied his next attack.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Kangaroo Grenade kick!"** Asher yelled as he gave the surprised pirate a double kangaroo kick with his foot detonating upon impact with his chin as he let out an explosion that sends him flying through the air before crashing down on the ocean below as Asher leaped up to his feet and slowly turned to look at his next victims, who shook in fear as he grinned like the devil and charged at them.

"Which way is North!?" Zoro asked while running across the forest as Cottontail flew after him.

_"I'm trying to tell you, you idiot! You're going the wrong way!"_ Cottontail shouted, but of course, Zoro couldn't understand him as they continued running/flying until-

"WHICH WAY IS NORTH!?" A familiar frustrated yell rang out as Zoro and Cottontail eyed each other, and nodded as they ran towards the direction of the voice, and found Luffy angrily kicking a large rock.

"OI, Luffy! You got lost, too?" Zoro asked as Luffy turned to him and nodded.

"Oh, hey, Zoro, Cottontail, yeah, I got lost. Who knew it was so hard to find which way is North?" Luffy asked as Zoro nodded, and Cottontail sweatdropped at them as he facepalmed.

_"You guys are idiots. I know where North is, just follow me."_ Cottontail says as Luffy beamed.

"Really? That's great!" Luffy says ecstatically as Zoro eyed them confusedly.

"OI, Luffy, what the hell are you talking about?" Zoro asked as Luffy smiled at him.

"Cottontail says that he knows where North is." He says before turning to the cotton-filled animal. "Lead the way, little buddy." Luffy says excitedly as Cottontail nodded and flew off as Luffy followed after him.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Zoro says as he ran after the duo.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Kick!"** Asher shouted as he delivered a kick to a pirate's back, and his foot detonated upon impact as the pirate scream in pain and was sent flying to the cliff as he crashed against it and moaned in pain. "Man, this is easy. I thought pirates were tough to beat?" Asher asked, kind of disappointed as Nami and Usopp watched on in awe.

"W-Whoa, your friend is pretty powerful," Usopp says, kind of scared of Asher's power and skill in battle as Nami nodded numbly.

"I know, and I thought he was a monster before." Nami says as she and Usopp continued watching Asher beating the crap out of the pirates, not noticing the blonde pirate, who had sneaked away from Asher's sight, creeping up to them as he raised his sledgehammer.

"Die!" He shouted, spooking the heck out of the teenagers as the old pirate slammed his sledgehammer against the back of Usopp's head, causing blood to spill out as Usopp grunted in pain while Nami gasped in horror as the long-nosed boy crashed on the floor.

"Usopp!" Asher shouted, hearing Usopp grunt of pain and Nami's gasp as he turned to them, and gritted his teeth in anger as he was about to march over to the blonde pirate, but was stopped by his colleagues as Asher groaned in annoyance before narrowing his eyes as he rushed over to fight them.

"Heh, do you seriously think you can stop us? Your friend may be strong, but even he can't defeat all of us at once." Blonde Pirate says smugly as Nami gasped in terror while staring at Usopp's seemingly dead body lying on the floor as the Blonde Pirate turned to his comrades. "Let's go, guys! Captain Kuro is waiting!"

"But what about him?" A scared pirate asked while pointing at Asher, who was still fighting the other Black Cat Pirates as the Blonde-haired man smirked.

"He's too distracted to stop us, let's go men!" The Blonde Pirate says as the remaining pirates who survived Asher's onslaught nodded, and began running out of the slope. "Yes! Go before Captain Kuro-" He says before shutting up as the old man felt someone grab his ankle and looks down to see bloodied Usopp holding him in place firmly as the young teenager glared at him. "What the!? Let you, you bastard! Let the hell go!" He shouted while pounding on Usopp's head relentlessly with his sledgehammer, but even after suffering his brutal assault, Usopp's grip never faltered as he continued glaring at the evil pirate.

"I...will never...let you go...BECAUSE I WANT THE VILLAGERS TO BELIEVE THAT I AM A LIAR, AND THE VILLAGE STAY PEACEFUL AS ALWAYS!" Usopp yelled to the heavens, shocking everyone in the slope as the long-nosed boy looked at the surprised evil pirate furiously. "I WON'T LET YOU PASS!"

"I'm gonna shut you up!" A long-haired pirate shouted as he appeared out of nowhere and pulled out his sword as he aimed for Usopp's neck, but Nami wouldn't let him as she pulled out her compactable bo staff from her bra, and smacked him away from Usopp.

"Damm, girl!" Another pirate shouted while thrusting his sword at her as Nami managed to block him, but the force of the attack sends her flying as she crashed against, and moans in pain. "That will show you too-"

**"Bomu Bomu no...Warhead Strike!"** Asher screamed in the background as a giant explosion occurred that blown away the remaining pirates in the slope, and the pirate slowly turned around to see an angry Asher flying towards them as he delivers a headbutt to his stomach, and detonated upon impact as he sends the screaming pirate into the forest, and collided with a tree as he got knocked out.

"What the fuck!?" The Blonde Pirate screamed, scared beyond belief before shaking his head as he drops his hammer and pulled out a sword as he then rushed over to a nonmoving Asher, and thrust his sword at him, only for Asher to catch the blade with ease as he glared at him and pushed him off. "You little-"

**"Bomu Bomu no..."** Asher says quietly as the blonde pirate slowly turned his head, and his eyes widen in terror as he noticed his sword covered in a pink aura. **"...Boom!"** He shouted as the sword went off and created a mild explosion that destroyed his sword and sends the flying pieces of shards into his face as he screamed bloody murder.

"My face! My face!" He screamed as Asher lifts his leg and kicks him away as he rolled down the slope while screaming in pain along the way.

"Nobody hurts my crew," Asher says firmly as he turned to Nami, and held out his hand. "Need any help?" He asked, who nodded numbly as Asher helped her up to her feet before walking over to Usopp as he slowly raised him up to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, my head feels a little woozy, but other than that, I'm fine." Usopp says as Asher smiled before frowning as he heard Jango let out a frustrated yell.

"You idiots!" Jango yelled to what little men he had left as he grits his teeth in anger/fear. "Stop being scared of that Bomb Freak and get going already! Did you forget about Captain Kuro's plan to attack the village?! We can't mess it up, or else, he will kill us! Do you hear me, you morons!?" Jango shouted, reminding them of their mission as the pirates steeled their nerves, and reluctantly ran up the slope as Asher narrowed his eyes at them.

"Nami, hold Usopp for me." Asher says as Nami nodded, and grabbed on to Usopp as Asher pulled out his shurikens, and was about to throw them when suddenly Asher and the others saw all of the other pirates that managed to escape the slope fly past their heads as they crashed against their comrades and rolled down the slope as they crashed landed near their shocked Captain.

"What the?" Usopp says as he, Nami, and Asher turned around, and gasped as they saw an angry Luffy, Zoro, and Cottontail standing behind them as they panted slightly.

"What took you guys so long?" Nami asked with an exasperated sigh as the Black Cat Pirates panicked.

"What's going on, Captain!?"

"We didn't know they had these kinds of people in the village!?" Numerous pirates said as Zoro looks at the pirates confusedly.

"What were those unchallenging guys just now?" He asked Luffy, who shrugs.

"Don't look at me. I'm not satisfied, though." Luffy says as Zoro nodded before turning to Nami as he and Cottontail glared at her.

"NAMI! HOW DARE YOU KICK ME DOWN THE SLOPE!" Zoro yelled at a surprised Nami angrily as Cottontail nodded.

_"AND, GETTING ME CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE!"_ He yelled while Luffy turned to Usopp.

"USOPP, YOU JERK! YOU DIDN'T SAY WHICH WAY WAS NORTH!" Luffy yelled furiously.

"Who are these idiots?" Captain Jango asked with a sweatdrop as his men still laid on the beach either unconscious or in a lot of pain.

"You guys are strong," Usopp says, amazed.

"Yeah!" Luffy grunted out, still pissed.

"What took you guys so long?!" Nami asked the boys as Zoro and Cottontail turned their heads towards her so fast that they almost got whiplash.

"You're the one who got us stuck back there!" Zoro shouted, equally as pissed as Luffy as Nami waves off his anger.

"That was an accident! It couldn't be helped! It's better for one person to be saved than for three to stay down there."

"THEN YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THE ONE TO FALL!/_THEN WHY THE HELL WERE YOU SAVED INSTEAD OF US?!_" Zoro and Cottontail both shouted.

"SERIOUSLY! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHICH WAY IS NORTH IS AND ISN'T?!" Luffy yelled at Usopp, who grew angry as well as he glared at him.

"What!? You're the one who ran off first, all full of confidence!"

"I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Luffy yelled back as Asher looks at all of his friends dumbfounded.

"I will feel like I lost something here," Asher says while scratching his head in confusion as he continued watching his friend bicker among themselves.

"Night is long gone." Captain Jango says to his men while staring at the sky as he shuddered. "Captain Kuro has a short temper, we better wrap this up fast." He says before flinching as the hypnotist realized that his men were still lying on the floor, half-unconscious. "Hey, men! Don't tell me that those brats did you all in already?!" He yelled, causing his men to grunt in pain as they slowly got up from the floor.

"Ah! They're still alive! They're pretty tough!" Luffy says with a surprised look as Jango pulls out his ring, and turned to his men.

"Listen! We don't have time to be dilly-dallying here! If our enemy is strong, we just need to be stronger! Now watch this ring closely! On, 'One...two...Jango.', you guys will grow strong with your wounds completely healed, and you will grow stronger and stronger!" Jango says as his men nodded while watching the ring closely as it moves back and forth.

"What are they doing?" Luffy says while scratching his head as Nami gasped.

"It's hypnosis! He's trying to convince them to be stronger! How ridiculous!" Nami says as the boys nodded while Luffy was watching the ring closely.

"One...two...Jango!" He screamed as the Black Cat pirates suddenly sprang into the life and let out a battle cry as the Straw Hats, minus Luffy who was shaking in his place watched them in disbelief.

"No way! They were badly injured a few minutes ago, and now they are standing up like it's nothing!" Nami exclaimed in shock as one of the pirates tightened his fist and punched the cliff so hard that he split it in half, and broke down as Zoro gasped.

"H-He gouged out the cliff! What strength!" Zoro shouted as Asher narrowed his eyes at the Black Cat Pirates angrily.

"That's not strength, that's cheating! Hey, you bastards! You can't cheat your way to getting power by hypnotism! You have to gain your strength naturally like a real warrior!" Asher shouted at the pirates before yelping as Nami bonks him in his head.

"You idiot! Don't aggregate them!" Nami yelled, but it was too late as the Black Cat Pirates slowly turned to him, and Jango pointed at them.

"Go! Crush anyone who gets in your way!" He shouted as his men cheered and began running up the slope.

"You guys get back! We'll handle this!" Zoro shouted to Usopp, Nami, and Cottontail, who nodded as they took a couple of steps back, and Zoro pulled out his swords. "Asher! Luffy! Get ready!"

"On it!" Asher says before noticing how quiet his captain was lately as he turned to Luffy, and saw him trembling in anger with his hat covering his face. "Uh, Captain? What's wrong?" Asher asked as Zoro heard him, and turned to his rubbery captain.

"OI, Luffy! What the hell is the matter with you?" Zoro asked as Luffy lifts his head and lets out a fierce roar as Zoro's eyes twitched in annoyance. "You got hypnotized too!?" Zoro asked in disbelief as a yelling Luffy ignores him and runs past his friends as he made his way to the charging Black Cat pirates.

"W-What a simple-minded person!" Nami says with Usopp nodding in agreement as Luffy reached the Black Cat pirates and pulled back his arms.

**"GOMU GOMU NO...GATLING!" **Luffy roared out as he stretched out his arms and punched the incoming army so fast that it looks like he had multiple arms. The pirates didn't stand a chance as the force and power of Luffy's punches sends them flying to the sky as they then crashed landed on the beach, and groaned in extreme pain.

"Whoa! Luffy's like crazy strong!" Asher says, amazed as Luffy brought back his fists and growled at the terrified pirates like a dog as he rushed towards, and they flinched as they covered their eyes and ducked down...only for Luffy to run past them as he made his way to their ship.

"Where's he going?!" Zoro asked as Luffy reached the Black Cat's pirates ship, and, with a tremendous amount of superhuman strength, Luffy then proceeds to rip the bow from the ship as the injured pirates cried out in fear/horror.

"Go! Luffy!" Nami, and Asher cheered while Zoro, Usopp, and Cottontail could only watch in shock/amazement as they watched their captain perform a miracle and ripped the bow from the ship as he then slowly turned to the shaking pirates angrily and got into a throwing position as they panicked.

"HE'S GONNA CRUSH US WITH THAT!"

"HE'S TRYING TO KILL US!"

"PLEASE DO SOMETHING, CAPTAIN!"

"Crap! Crap! This is no time to be gawking!" Jango chided himself as he pulled out his ring and aimed it towards a snarling Luffy. "On, 'One...two...Jango', you'll get sleepy!" Jango says nervously while waving his ring back and forth frantically as Luffy watches him. "One...two...Jango!" He says just as Luffy was about to throw the bow as he immediately went to sleep, and crashed down to the floor. The evil pirates cheered, until noticing that Luffy dropped the bow and was falling towards them as they screamed in terror, and covered themselves as the bow fell on top of them, knocking down all of the Black Cat pirates in one fell swoop.

"Looks like they're just about wiped out!" Nami says while eyeing the unconscious pirates lying on the floor as Zoro nodded.

"Hey! Nevermind that, Luffy's trapped under there!" Usopp says worriedly.

"He won't die." Zoro says bluntly, waving off his concern as Asher nodded.

"Yeah, our Captain is made of rubber, so he won't die that easily, but you on the other hand, are quite injured." Asher says while eyeing Usopp's injuries as he was still leaning on Nami for support since he couldn't stand yet on his own.

"Damm, that brat! Now the plan is really screwed up! If Captain Kuro caught sight of this, he'd slaughter all of us, too!" Jango says frighteningly.

"Hey, Buchie! Come look! Our ship's head is wrecked!"

"What!? Wrecked!? How did that happen?!" Two voices yelled out from the Black Cat Pirates ship as Jango turns around and smirks sinisterly as he chuckled.

"We still have a trump card! Come forth, Meowban Brothers!" Jango shouted as two mysterious people leaped out of the ship and twirled around as they landed in front of a grinning Jango.

One of the mysterious people is a 21-year-old overweight man with short black hair, pale skin, sharp teeth, tiny black eyes, and wears fake cat ears on his head. His outfit consisted of a stripped light/dark purple cape with white fluffy brim, a shoulder pad on his left arm, and pale blue gloves with claws at the end. His name is Buchi.

The other mysterious person is a 21-year-old extremely skinny man with green hair that is parted to the side and curls at the end, green cat-like eyes, and also has a hunched back that makes him look smaller than he actually is. His outfit consisted of a navy blue shirt with light grey buttons, a magenta bow tie, dark brown gloves with claws growing out at the end, light blue shorts, and brown shoes. His name is Sham.

"You called Captain Jango?" Sham asked with a feline-like grin.

"What's up?" Buchi asked bluntly as Asher stared at them confusedly.

"I don't get it. Are these guys like half-cats or something?" Asher asked.

_"No, just freaks."_ Cottontail answered as Asher nodded.

"Buchie! Sham! We absolutely must get past this hill, but as you can see, an obstacle is in the way!" Jango says while pointing at Asher and the others. "Get rid of these pests." He says sinisterly as the Meowban Brothers turned to Zoro and Asher, and saw them glaring at them as they panicked.

"W-We can't possibly do that! Right, Buchie?!" Sham asked Buchie, who nodded while sweating bullets.

"Yeah, they look strong!"

"What's going on with them?" Usopp asked as he and the others stared at the Meowban Brothers with huge sweatdrops, except for Asher, who was studying them closely.

"And besides, we're just supposed to guard the ship!" Sham shouted as Buchie nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, yeah! We don't participate in these kinds of battles!"

"Sham! Get going already!" Jango ordered with a serious look as Sham panicked.

"Eh?! Me?!"

"Hurry!" Jango shouted as Sham flinched, but nodded as he followed his captain's orders, and tearfully ran over to the Strawhats.

"What's going on? Didn't he say something about them being their trump cards? Why are they making those cowards fight?" Nami asked, beyond confused as they watched a sobbing Sham rushing towards them.

"Prepare to die! I'm gonna scratch you to pieces with my claws!" Sham pathetically screamed as he made his way towards Zoro while Asher watched him go carefully.

"What are we supposed to do, Asher? This guy is pathetic." Zoro says to Asher, who remained silent as Zoro raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything as he turned to a screaming Sham. "Hey, you! Stop, or I'll kill you!" Zoro yelled as Sham suddenly stopped screaming and smirked evilly as he popped out his claws.

"If you can!"

"What!?" Zoro says in shock as Shazam rushes towards him and was about to slash him, but then-

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bombs Away!"** Asher yelled while throwing his glowing pink shurikens at Sham, who barely dodged out of the way as the shurikens collided against the cliff and blew up as Sham angrily turns to Asher. "Did you think that you will trick with me with that pathetic acting?" He asked cooly as Sham gasped in shock.

"But how did you-"

"I can see bullshit coming from a mile away. I sensed your killer intents the minute you and that fatty jumped out of the ship." Asher says as Sham gritted his teeth in anger while Zoro stared at Asher in disbelief.

_"Amazing. This kid's instincts are top-notch, he was able to sense Sham and Buchi's killer intent while I couldn't. This kid may be a good crewmate after all."_ Zoro thought to himself with a smirk before dodging Sham's claw attack as he responded by kicking him back. "This is getting annoying." Zoro says before charging at the cat-like villain with his swords as Sham panicked.

**"Oni..."** Zoro starts as Sham screamed in terror and Buchi reacted quickly as he rushed over to his partner's aid, and held out his hands. **"...Giri!"** Zoro shouted as he sliced Buchi's stomach, causing blood to spill out as Buchi groans in pain and fell down as Zoro appears behind him while crouched down.

"Buchi!" Sham screamed before turning to Zoro angrily as he charged at him with his claws popped out, ready to slash. "You will pay for-"

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Punch!"** Asher yelled while suddenly appearing beside the cat-themed pirate as he punched his face and set off an explosion that sends him flying to a cliff as he groans in pain.

"I had that covered, Asher." Zoro says with a grin as Asher grinned back.

"Yeah, but the guy was annoying, so I punched him." He explains as Zoro nodded understandably.

"Wow, these guys are beasts!" Usopp says as Nami nodded numbly, and Cottontail's ears twitched as he turned around, and screeches

"What's wrong?" Nami asked as she turned around her face paled as she Captain Kuro slowly making his way to the slope. Captain Jango gritted his teeth at Asher and Zoro angrily before panicking as he saw Captain Kuro standing on top of the slope with a pissed off look on his face.

"Captain Kuro!" Jango yelled panickily, causing Sham's face to pale as he turned his head and saw his captain standing a few feet away from him as he flinched. "No! Uhh! I-I can explain!" Jango shouted as Kuro sighed, and dropped the black bag he was carrying with him as he adjusted his glasses, and took a deep breath as he glared at Jango.

"Night is long gone now, so it seemed odd that the plan wasn't making any progress..."

"C-Captain Kuro!" One of the Black Cat Pirates says fearfully while waking up from his unconscious state as his crewmates did the same.

"We're dead!" Another pirate yelled as Usopp turns to an angry Kuro nervously.

_"Oh, no! We were doing good so far, but now that he's here, things are going to become extremely difficult."_ Usopp thought to himself as Kuro took a deep breath before growing furious as he glared at his former crewmates.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING!?" Captain Kuro's angry yelled rang out the slope as the Black Cat Pirates, Nami, Cottontail, and Usopp trembled in fear while Asher and Zoro narrowed their eyes at him. "To think that these brats have held you back. Oh, how the Black Cats have fallen. What do you got to say to yourself...Jango!?" He yelled furiously as Jango trembled in fear.

"B-But, you said letting that kid go wouldn't cause any problems!"

"Yes, I did say that...what's your point? He's an idiot! I knew no one would listen to his warnings, and he would come stumbling over here to take a stand against us. But the one thing I haven't taken account for was you guys feebleness!" Kuro shouted as Sham heard him and grew angry as he stood up and walked towards him.

"Us, feeble? Who are you calling feeble?!" Sham shouted at him angrily as Kuro raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. "Yeah, you were powerful in the past, but face it Kuro, it's been three years, and we haven't exactly lived the good life being a servant to a snotty rich girl!" He shouted as Kuro narrowed his eyes at him.

"What are you trying to say, Sham?" He says while adjusting his glasses.

"Huh? Internal conflict." Usopp says with Nami and Cottontail agreeing as Jango panicked.

"Hey! Shut up, Sham!" He screamed, but Sham ignored him as he popped out his claws.

"While you have been pampering yourself, we have all been fighting out there for three long years, sinking pirate ships, stealing treasure, and massacring villages!" He yelled as Kuro slowly blinked at him.

"Your point being..." Kuro says calmly as Sham's eye twitched in annoyance.

"You've been doing nothing for three years! There's no way you can defeat one of the Meowban Brothers of today!" Sham shouted as he ran towards him with the intent to kill. "You're not our captain anymore! Prepare to die!" He shouted as Kuro nonchalantly grabbed his bag, and pulled out a couple of weird gauntlets with claws just as Sham reached him, and slashed him...only to gasp in shock as he slashed his bag. "What the!?" Sham says as Kuro appears behind him, surprising everyone with his speed as he raised his hands and showed off the gauntlets that he was wearing as they glinted against the sunlight.

"Who did you say...you were going to kill?" Kuro asked ominously as Sham stared at him in shock/horror.

"When did he get behind him!?" Usopp asked as the others shrugged.

"H-He moved so fast, I could barely see him! He was like a blur!" Nami says while hugging Cottontail tightly as they both trembled in fear.

"What strange looking weapons," Zoro says while gesturing the gauntlets as Asher nodded.

"H-How did he get behind me?!" Sham asked himself before composing himself as he was about to charge at Kuro but stopped as he saw that he was nowhere in sight. "Where did he-" Sham says before shutting up as he felt multiple claws pointed at his neck, and shakily look up to see Kuro hanging on his shoulder with a cold look on his face.

"You're right...I don't feel active." He says calmly while enjoying the sight of Sham trembling in terror as Kuro grins. "You're also right that I'm no longer your Captain. I am only the 'client' in this plan! A 'client who will kill if the plan fails!"

"T-This is the first time I see one of the Meowban Brothers getting caught!" One of the pirates says as Jango scoffed.

"What are you still hoping for?" Jango asked, surprising the pirate as Jango placed his hand on his hat and grimaced. "His 'Silent Step' is a soundless moving technique. Even if he faces 50 assassins, he can still kill them all silently...we can't escape from his plans." Jango says, rather solemnly as he looked up at his former captain hauntingly, and saw him adjusting his glasses as he flinched. "And, I got chills after seeing that habit of his again after three years! His odd way of lifting his glasses to avoid cutting his own face, it's like if he never stopped wearing those damm cat claws! They're almost a part of his body, so of course, he didn't forget to fight!" Jango ranted as Nami heard him and grew scared as she looks across the battlefield, and grew angry as she noticed Luffy STILL sleeping in the beach.

_"Godammit, that idiot! We need him now more than ever, and he's still asleep?!"_ Nami thought mentally before calming down as she placed Usopp down on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Usopp asked as Nami smirked at him.

"I'm going to go and wake up that lazy bum." Nami says before running off as she travels down the slope while making sure to move along quietly to not be spotted by Kuro or Jango.

"It seems I've grown a bit good-natured myself, maybe these years on dryland had made me soft," Kuro says to a trembling Shem before pushing him forwards as he gave the cat man a stern look. "So, let's make a deal. I'll give you five minutes to deal with the situation, but if you fail...I will kill every single one of you here. Do I make myself clear?" He asked threateningly as everyone stared at him in shock/disbelief for his proclamation.

"F-Five minutes, that sounds-"

"Just enough time!" Jango shouted, interrupting the dumb pirate who nearly got them killed as Jango gave him a look, and he backed away fearfully. "Five minutes to kill the Bomb Freak and the Swordsman will be more than enough, Captain! Thank you for your generosity!" Jango says while laughing nervously as Kuro nodded, and puts away his claws as Shem narrowed his cat-like eyes at Asher and Zoro, and charged at them.

"Five minutes will be no problem, Captain! These brats only caught me off guard, that's all! I will cut them up to pieces in less than one minute!" Sham shouted with a malicious grin as the Black Cat Pirates cheered for him.

"We're counting on you, Shem! Don't fail us! Kill them!" Jango shouted before noticing Nami sneaking past him. _"What is that girl think she's doing?"_ Shem thought to himself as he slowly reached for his ring.

"Die, brats!" Sham says while leaping towards the duo, who stared back at him boredly as Asher turned to Zoro.

"You want me to handle him, or do you want a swing?" He asked as Zoro thought carefully before shrugging.

"Eh, knock yourself out." Zoro says as Asher grins and leaps towards a surprised Shem as he pulled back his leg.

**"Bomu Bomu no...Bomb Kick!**" Asher yelled as he kicked Shem's stomach and set off an explosion that caused Shem to cough out blood and scream as he was sent flying to his ship, and crashed inside as he was knocked out.

"Four minutes." Kuro says, annoyed that his best men were taken out by a kick as the Black Cat Pirates panicked.

"He's strong." Jango says with a sweatdrop as he turned to look at the ship, and his eyes widen as he saw Shem's unconscious body laid on the deck. "H-He took out Shem like it was nothing! Who the hell are these brats!?" Jango asked out in frustration as Asher turned to look at the angry Kuro, and smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"Don't worry, Kuro, I will take you out in less than five minutes." Asher says with a determined look as Kuro stared at him blankly before his eyes widen as he recognized who he was.

_"Wait a minute, wasn't he one of those kids who fell off the cliff yesterday? Interesting. He must've survived. I wonder if the other one did as well." _Kuro thought to himself before shaking his head as he glared at the young human bomb. "Three minutes." Kuro says, and instead of feeling fear like he thought he would, the former pirate was surprised to see Asher's grin widen as he cracked his neck.

"Bring it on." Asher says as he was about to attack him when suddenly he heard a grunt behind him as he turned around and was surprised to see a weakened Buchi crawling over to Jango, who was likewise surprised to see him alive.

"Buchi!? How did you-"

"I-Ill...slaughter them..." Buchi says before pausing as he barfed out blood, and cleaned his mouth as he looked up at Jango with a glare. "C-Captain, I can do it! Hypnotize me! Just do it, Captain!"

"Huh, he's alive. I thought you killed him?" Asher asked Zoro, who shrugs.

"I thought, I did, his blubber must've protected his vital organs, and my attack must've knocked him out briefly," Zoro says before sighing as he pulled out his swords. "Now, this won't do, I can't let any of my enemies undefeated, so I must fight him again. Don't get in my way, Asher." Zoro says as Asher nodded, and stepped aside as Zoro marched over to Butchi, only to blink in surprise as he saw Jango hypnotizing Buchi as the fat man growled like an animal and his muscles bulged out as he turned to a shocked Zoro, and roared.

"Get them, Butchi!" Jango shouted as Butchi roared again and charged at the duo as Zoro got ready to slice him.

_"This guy means business. If he's as strong as the other hypnotized people from before, then I need to kill him quickly before he kills me."_ Zoro thought to himself as Butchi continues rushing towards him.

_"Yes! Finally, things are going according to plan! Butchi will kill these freaks, and then we will be on our way."_ Jango says before hearing grunts behind him as he turns around, and his eyes widen as he saw Nami kicking Luffy's sleeping body. _"Shit! I forgot about the girl!"_

"Wake up, you idiot! Everyone is fighting out here, and you're just sleeping?! Wake up!" Nami shouted while kicking Luffy's head repeatedly as he groans and groggily opened his eyes.

"Two minutes." Kuro says, causing Jango to flinch as he turned to the girl and pulled out his ring.

_"Oh, no, you don't!"_ Jango shouted mentally as he tossed his ring over directly at Nami.

"Nami! Look out!" All of the Straw Hats yelled as Nami turned to them confusedly and panics as she saw a ring heading towards her, and accidentally stepped on the now awaked Luffy's eyes.

"It was nice knowing you!" Jango says with a laugh as the blade flew close and closer to Nami.

"Dodge it! Dodge it! Dodge it!" The Straw Hats yelled as Nami was stuck in place, to overridden by fear to move, when suddenly she was pulled down by an angry Luffy as he stood up and glared down at her.

"NAMI! HOW DARE YOU STOMP ON MY FACE?!" Luffy screamed before yelping as the ring hits him in the back of his head, and caused him to stumble in his steps as blood spew out from his head.

"Eh?! The kid is still alive!?" Jango asked in shock.

"Whoa, Luffy woke up just in time to save Nami, but at the same time got hurt himself." Asher says, wincing as he saw Luffy's blood staining the beach below him.

"Huh, can't tell if he has bad or good timing." Zoro mused while Usopp and Cottontail were still staring at Luffy in shock/horror. Everyone watched as Luffy stumbled a bit from the unexpected blow before grunting as he caught his balance while planting his feet firmly on the ground as he gritted his teeth.

"Impossible! He's still standing!" Jango asked in disbelief as well as his remaining crew.

"L-Luffy?" Nami asked quietly as Luffy went still and, with no warning, brutally ripped the ring from his head as even more blood spilled out.

"He's really something." Zoro says with a smirk as Asher nodded.

"Our Captain is a badass." Asher says with a huge grin as Luffy slowly touched his head, and winced as he felt a sharp pain journey across his body, and screamed.

"THAT HURTS!" Luffy screamed as the Black Cat Pirates panicked.

"Crap! That guy's back in the battle! Now with three monsters, we don't stand a chance!"

"There's no way we can defeat them all in 5 minutes!"

"Captain Kuro is going to murder us!" Numerous pirates yelled out as Luffy ignored their muttering, and turned to Nami as he glared at her.

"NAMI! THAT HURTS, YOU JERK!"

"HEY, SLEEPING BEAUTY, IT WASN'T ME!" Nami yelled back, slightly terrified of how easy Luffy recovered from the lethal attack as she pointed at Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates. "IT WAS THEM!" Nami yelled as Luffy turned to them and narrowed his eyes as he saw Usopp's injuries.

"Did they hurt Usopp?" Luffy asks as Nami nodded. "Then, I will handle them." Luffy says as Nami nodded before spotting the Black Cat Pirate's ship as a glint appeared in her eyes.

"And while you're fighting them, I'm going to swipe their treasure." Nami says while running off as Luffy watched her go with a sweatdrop.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Luffy says unsurely as he adjusted his hat and turned to his enemies, who flinched as they turned to Kuro.

"One minute." He says blankly as everyone screamed out in terror.

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! NOT EVEN CAPTAIN JANGO AND THE MEOWBAN BROTHERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEFEAT THEM! WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE!?"

"HOW CAN WE FINISH OFF THESE PEOPLE?!"

"WE'RE DOOMED!" NUmerous Black Cat Pirates screamed as Jango gritted his teeth in frustration/fear, and turned to Buchi.

"BUCHI! QUICKLY, THERE'S NO TIME TO WASTE! KILL THAT THREE-SWORD BASTARD AND THE BOMB BRAT, AND I'LL HANDLE THE STRAW HAT WEARING PRICK!" Jango shouted while pulling out his rings as he glared at Luffy. "I'M COMING FOR YOU, STRAW HAT!" Jango yelled at Luffy, who looked back at without fear as he begins walking towards him.

"Times up." Kuro suddenly announced, causing everyone to freeze as he pulled out his claws, and held out his arms. "You know the deal. You're times up, and now it's time for you all to die." Kuro says calmly to his frightened men as Luffy looked up at him, and gasped.

"Huh? That butler is here too!" Luffy says, finally noticing his presence as Kuro heard him and narrowed his eyes at the young pirate.

"Ah, so he did survive. These kids are stronger than they look." Kuro says with an amused grin as he was about to go to attack, when suddenly-

"KLAHADORE! STOP!" Kaya yelled out, suddenly appearing in the slope as she ran towards Kuro while wearing a long brown coat to cover her thin clothes.

"Kaya! Why are you here!?" Usopp asked in horror, causing everyone to look up at them as they saw Kaya approaching Kuro, and glared at him while shaking lightly.

"Oh! Isn't that the girl from the mansion!? Oh, this is not good!" Jango says while sweating nervously as Luffy looked up at her curiously.

"Wait. That's the girl we were supposed to kill?"

"If she's here, then that means we don't have to go to the village!"

"All we got to do is kill her, right?" Numerous pirates said Asher heard them and narrowed his eyes as he then turned back to Kaya worriedly and discretely took out one of his shurikens.

"You surprised me, Miss Kaya. What are you doing here?" Kuro asked while adjusting his glasses as Kaya glared at him.

"Merry told me everything." She says as he smirked.

"Oh, did he now? Heh, maybe I should've killed him right away, instead of showing mercy. I really have gone soft." Kuro says with a chuckle as Kaya stared at him with a wide-eyed, horrified look.

_"No...he really...isn't the Klahadore I know."_ Kaya realized with a shudder as she tightened her fists tightly before turning to Usopp as she gave him a regretful look. "I'm really sorry for not believing, Usopp." Kaya apologized, surprising Usopp as she started crying. "I just never could've thought that Klahadore is a pirate, but now..."

"Nevermind that! Why are you here!? You have to run away, Kaya! These pirates want to kill you!" Usopp shouted, scared for Kaya's life as the rich girl grew angry and turned to him with tears running down her eyes.

"Aren't you fighting as well!?" Kaya asked, surprising Usopp again as the rich girl looks down at the floor guiltily. "We treated you horribly, and yet you're here fighting for us, even with those wounds, so I want to be brave like you and stop this once and for all!"

"Kaya..." Usopp says as softly as Kaya turned to Kuro, who was watching the interaction between them boredly as she gave him a pleading look.

"Klahadore, please! If you want my fortune, you can have it all! Just please leave this village! Right now!" Kaya shouted as Kuro stared at her silently for a few seconds before smirking as the sun glinted against his glasses.

"I will gladly accept it...but...there's one other thing I want, you see...what I want above all else is...peace." Kuro says softly, surprising everyone in the slope as Kuro looks up to the sky with a small smile on his face. "I've spent the last three years earning the trust of the entire village, and to be honest, I find this new sense of peace and tranquility quite comforting. When my plan comes to fruition, I will live with this sublime peace of mind. Yes, glorious comfort of a peaceful life will be mind forever and ever. In short, these pirates are coming!" Kuro shouted while gesturing his faithful pirates below them as Kaya stared at him in shock before gritting her teeth in anger as she reached over to pull something out of her coat. "And you will leave your fortune to me and die. Miss Kaya, these things will happen, and there's nothing you can do to stop it." Kuro says with a sadistic grin as Kaya began trembling in terror.

"No, you can't be..."

"Kaya, run! Don't bother negotiating with him! He's not the butler you knew!" Usopp shouted, causing Kaya to narrow her eyes as she nodded.

"You're right," Kaya says before suddenly pulling out a gun as she pointed it at Kuro's head. "You're not Klahadore! Leave this village, or I will shoot!" Kaya threatened, surprising everyone in the slope as Kuro stared at her with an emotionless look before chuckling as he adjusted his glasses.

"So, you've become stronger over the years, I'm impressed Miss Kaya that you go to these extreme lengths to protect the ones you love, but...will you really shoot me? Even, after all we've been through all these years?" Kuro asked, causing Kaya to gasp in surprise while Luffy and Asher narrowed their eyes at Kuro suspiciously, wondering where he was getting at as they watched him look at Kaya with a fond look.

"We spent so much time together. Even before your poor sweet parents passed away." Kuro says softly as tears appeared in Kaya's eyes, but the rich girl shook away her tears as she continued aiming at her former butler's face. "You were more than my master, you were my best friend. We had so many memories together, together we suffered, and together we had rejoiced. Like family." Kuro says while taking off one of his gauntlets as he adjusted his glasses.

"Klahadore..." Kaya says with tears running down her face again as her grip on her gun loosened a bit.

"I took you out shopping trips to the city, I looked after you when you were ill, and we used to talk for hours and hours. Kaya, listen to me, I was devoted to you for so long...yes, for so very long." Kuro says before reaching over to grab Kaya's hand as it seems like he wanted to grab her hand, but it turned out to be a ruse as he snatched her gun away, and pushed Kaya to the ground as he looked at her with a really pissed off look on his face. "For years, I had to put up with this crap, Miss Kaya. I quietly suffered, so today I can end your life, and take everything that I deserve!"

"That prick..." Asher says through gritted teeth as he watched Kaya staring at Kuro in disbelief/sadness while being loomed over by an angry Kuro as he gripped the gun tightly in silent rage.

"I, a man once known as the feared and respected Captain Kuro, had to smile humbly for some snot-nosed little girl. It went against every fiber of my being." Kuro says in disdain as Kaya was full-on sobbing by this point, causing Usopp to stare at Kuro in rage as he clenched his fists in frustration.

_"That bastard! I got to do something!"_ Usopp yelled mentally as he begins crawling over to an unsuspecting Kuro, not noticing Cottontail watching him go worriedly as he then quietly followed after him.

"Do you understand the depth of these daily insults?! Do you understand the rage created by those transcriptions against my pride!?" Kuro yelled out furiously as the Devil-Fruit users stared at former pirate with either disgust/anger before gasping as they saw Usopp grabbing Kaya's gun, and pointed at Kuro, who looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"KURO!" Usopp shouted as he stood up and aimed the gun at Kuro's face as he fired...only to miss as Kuro easily dodged the gunshot, and puts on his gauntlet as he then appeared behind the young teenager.

"Thank you for reminding me..." Kuro says while unsheathing his claws as he aimed towards Usopp's neck. "...I still owe you for the punch you gave me yesterday. If I recall, you hit me as hard as you could, right?" Kuro asks sinisterly as Usopp shivered in fear.

"Usopp!" Kaya screamed out in horror as Kuro was about to slice off his head when suddenly, Cottontail appeared as he wrapped around Usopp's head and grew his fur hard and spikey as he protected Usopp from getting decapitated.

"What the!?-Ugh!" Kuro asked in shock before grunting in pain as Luffy's fist and one of Asher's shurikens appeared as Luffy's fist connected with his face while Asher's throwing weapon connected with his stomach and blew up as both attacks sends him flying through the air.

"If he hates getting hit that much, then he's about to have a really bad day..." Luffy quipped while stretching back his arm back to his body as Asher grins and cracks his knuckles.

"Because now he's about to face us!" Asher says, finishing Luffy's sentence as everyone stared at the boys in utter disbelief/shock, and watched as Kuro crash against the ground with newfound terror.

"They knocked down, Captain Kuro!? They sent him flying!"

"Did that kid just stretched?!"

"First, the bomb freak, then the sword demon, and now there's a kid who can stretch!? What the hell is going on?!" Numerous pirates screamed out as Luffy and Asher ignored them as they were staring at the knocked down Kuro, who stared back at them in silent rage as Cottontail unwrapped himself, and turned his fur back to normal as he laid perched on a grateful Usopp's shoulder.

"Thanks, little buddy." Usopp says while scratching his cheek as Cottontail purred before screeching in horror as he pointed behind them. Confused, Usopp and Kaya turned around, and their eyes widen in terror as they saw the little veggies running towards Kuro with weapons in their little hands as they leaped towards the downed pirate.

"THE USOPP PIRATES HAVE ARRIVED!" They shouted before dropping down on the former pirate as they began beating him up.

"NO, DON'T!" Usopp shouted.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Kaya screamed.

_"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE, YOU STUPID BRATS!"_ Cottontail yelled.

"Say your prayers, butler!"

"Take that! And that!"

"Game over, you lousy, no good pirate!" All of the veggies yelled in unison as they continued beating up the non-moving pirate, much to the horror of everyone in the slope.

"Damm it! Those stupid brats! They're going to get themselves killed!" Asher says through gritted teeth as Zoro nodded.

"Those Rugrats have a deathwish." He says while Luffy remains silent, but there was a touch of worry in his eyes.

"You don't know what you're doing! Stop! Stop!" Usopp shouted as the little veggies finally stopped beating up Kuro, and panted heavily as they stared at his ruffed up appearance.

"Alright, this time, we will let you off without any more brutality." Onion says to Kuro, who still remains silent as Jango panicked.

"Uh, oh, Kuro is not saying a word. This is bad! Those stupid brats had really done it now! Captain Kuro is going to be so mad and take his anger out on us!" Jango says while shaking in fear as the little veggies ran over to a trembling Usopp and smiled at him innocently.

"Captain! I knew you were fighting! You were so awesome!" Pepper screamed.

"I thought there were no secrets between us, why didn't you tell us?" Carrot asked.

"Yeah, he's right! We were supposed to tell each other everything!" Onion shouted as Usopp grew angry and glared at them.

"Who cares about that?! You guys just gottta get out of here, now! Run!" Usopp ordered as the little veggies shake their heads, not noticing Kuro slowly turning to them as he sits up.

"No! We're gonna fight, too!" Pepper says determinedly as Onion nodded.

"Yeah, the Usopp Pirates will be shamed if we just run in fear!" Onion says before he and the others felt a cold shiver run up their spines as they slowly turned around and saw an emotionless Kuro looking down at them as he then wordlessly adjusted his glasses, only for his eye to twitch in annoyance as his lenses broke, thanks to the kid's assaults as the little veggies screamed in fear.

"YOU IDIOTS! DON'T SCREAM, RUN!" Usopp shouted, but the kids were too scared to run as Kuro walks towards them, and they prepared for the worst...only for Kuro to walk past them as he stood beside Usopp, and the others as Kuro glared at them but didn't do anything as he turned to our favorite Devil Fruit users.

"That hurt," Kuro says bluntly while pointing at the bruise on his cheek, and then at the scorch mark on his stomach. "My, my, those are a couple of strange techniques that you two have developed. Tell me something, did you both gained powers by eating a couple of Devil Fruit?" Kuro asked as Luffy and Asher grinned as they nodded.

"Yep! I ate the Gomu Gomu Fruit! I'm a Rubber Man." Luffy says while stretching his cheek to demonstrate.

"And, I ate the Bomu Bomu Fruit, and became a Bomb Man." Asher says while setting off a minor explosion with his hands to demonstrate as the Black Cat Pirates panicked.

"They ate Devil Fruits!"

"No wonder they were so powerful!"

"We are doomed!"

"I see, no wonder we were having so much trouble with them." Jango says as Kuro narrowed his eyes at the teens before turning to Jango.

"Jango!" Kuro shouted, getting his the Hypnotist attention as Kuro unsheathed his claws. "I will deal with the boys, you take care of Miss Kaya as we planned. Have her butler written in her will, then kill her."

"What about the kids?" Jango asked as Kuro eyed the kids with a sneer.

"They're an eyesore, eliminate them." Kuro says, causing the kids to tremble in fear as Usopp and Kaya gasped in horror.

"I'm on it." Jango says as he took a few steps forwards before stopping as Zoro stopped him.

"Stop." Zoro says, without turning to him as Jango eyed him warily. "I won't let you get through me!"

"Buchi!" Jango shouted as Buchi, who had remained silent until up to this point, let out a fierce roar and leaps up.

**"Cat...astrophe!"** Buchi shouted as he then drops down towards Zoro, who managed to jump back in time as Buchi crashed landed on the spot that he used to occupy, and caused a mini-crater to appear as he produced a minor earthquake that shook the entire slope. Everyone yelped in fear, except for Luffy and Asher, who were still glaring at Kuro as he glared back at them.

_"This guy is way stronger than when the others when hypnotized! It must've been because of his mass and size!"_ Zoro thought mentally while trying to look through the smoke cloud that Buchi produced as suddenly his claw hand popped out, and grabbed Zoro's neck as the rest of Buchi's body came out of the smoke, and he then proceeded to slam the swordsman against the cliff with the force of a wild and raging elephant.

"So, powerful! Who is he?" Luffy asked Asher, who was staring at Buch with disdain.

"His name is Buchi. One of the Meowban Brothers. He and this guy named Sham works for Kuro. They were pretty weak, so me and Zoro managed to defeat them, but now Buchi's strength increased immensely...although he got it by cheating." Asher says, annoyed as Luffy nodded understandably.

"Get the hell off of me, you damm cat!" Zoro says before using his own strength to kick Buchi away as he looks ahead, and cursed as he saw Jango walking up the cliff casually. _"Dammit! He got past me!"_ Zoro shouted mentally in annoyance.

_"Damm! I feel dizzy, I can't get up, but I must stop them!"_ Usopp yelled mentally, still haven't recovered from his injuries as an idea popped into his head, and he turned to his tiny crewmates. "USOPP PIRATES!" Usopp screamed at the top of his lungs, causing Jango to stop walking as he and the others turned to Usopp curiously.

"Yes, sir!" The little veggies shouted.

"Listen carefully! Protect Kaya!" Usopp screamed, surprising them as he continued. "Do as I say, don't argue with me! I'm giving you the most important task there is right now! It's absolutely critical that you succeed! Take Kaya and get away from here! You must keep her safe! This is the reason we wanted to be pirates! To protect what's dear to us! So do as I say, and run!" Usopp shouted as the little veggies stared at him with tears and trembling lips. "You mustn't refuse! This is the Captain Orders!"

"Yes, sir!" They shouted while saluting them as they then grabbed a surprised Kaya's hand and ran off with her into the forest.

_"He sure has a way with words. He made running away sound brave."_ Zoro thought mentally as he was feeling slightly impressed with Usopp's actions.

"Jango!" Kuro shouted at Jango, who flinched as he gave his captain a sheepish look.

"Oh, sorry, I was gawking," Jango says before pulling out two rings as he twirled them around with his fingers. "Those fools! Did they really think that they can escape from me that easi-"

**"SPECIAL TECHNIQUE...NAMARII-ROSHI!"** Usopp shouted while launching a dense pachinko at Jango's back with his slingshot, nearly breaking his spine as Usopp smirked. "He, he, serves you right," Usopp says as he was satisfied to hear Jango cry out in pain.

"DAMM, YOU!" Jango shouted in extreme anger as he was about to throw his ring at Usopp, but stopped as Kuro held out his hand.

"HE'S NOT OUR PRIORITY RIGHT NOW! GO GET KAYA BEFORE SHE HEADS INTO THE VILLAGE AND TELLS EVERYONE WHAT'S GOING ON!" Kuro shouted as Jango gritted his teeth, but nodded as he ran off into the forest while rubbing his sore back in the process. "You all do realize that their escape is meaningless?" Kuro asked the Strawhats rhetorically as he smirked arrogantly. "I know how weak Kaya is, she won't be able to outrun Jango. If you want to help her, go right ahead, but first, you have to get off this hill-"

"Bored now." Asher says suddenly, cutting him off as Kuro's eyes widen in surprise.

"What?"

"I said, I'm bored. You've been talking all day about killing us, and yet, we're still here standing. Just get to the point and fight us already." Asher says, annoyed as Kuro blinks before glaring at him as he growled.

"Fine! If you want to fight me head-on, then be my guest!" Kuro shouted angrily as Usopp panicked.

_"Oh, no, Asher really pissed him off. The situation just got worse."_ Usopp thought to himself grimly.

"Usopp!" Zoro yelled, getting his attention as Usopp saw the Monster Trio standing in fighting stances with looks of confidence and bravery on their faces. "Leave this to us!" He shouted as Usopp gasped, but nodded as the trio turned to Kuro to glare at him.

"Is the Hypnotist still after us?" Pepper asked as he and the others were running across the forest, making sure to get enough distance on the evil pirates.

"No, I don't see him! Maybe we've lost him?" Onion says as Carrot smirks.

"He must be dreaming if he thinks he can catch us in this forest!" He said arrogantly as Onion turned to Kaya.

"Don't worry, Miss Kaya, we'll protect you!" He says reassuringly as Kaya smiled at him slightly.

"Thank you for this, kids," Kaya says sweetly as the kids beamed before yelping as a pair of rings flew past them and chopped off a couple of trees as they panicked.

"Not here, either," Jango says while twirling more rings as he looks around the forest. "Where the hell are you, brats!? Don't think that you can go away! I will clear this whole forest to find you if I have to!" Jango's angry yell rang out the forest as the gang trembled in fear and quickly ran off to find a hiding spot as Jango continued looking for them.

"What was that noise?" Usopp asked, hearing a weird noise coming from the forest as Kuro smirked.

"That's probably Jango losing his temper again. You can see for yourself, but by the time you get there, it will be too late." Kuro says with a sinister grin as Zoro gritted his teeth in anger.

"We better hurry." Zoro says as Usopp shakily sat up, and tightened his fists in anger as he turned to Kuro.

"Damm it, Kuro! You and Kaya had spent three years together! Don't you have any feelings for her at all?!"

"No." Kuro says bluntly. "As I said before, Kaya is just a pawn in my plan. And if she dies, I might actually thank her."

"This guy's beyond saving!" Zoro says angrily as Luffy huffs out in anger.

"I never thought of saving him!"

"This guy is getting on my nerves! Let's beat him up already!" Asher shouted, anxious to fight the former pirate as Usopp glared at Kuro.

"I can't let you do whatever you want!" Usopp shouted before standing up as he ran towards the forest while ignoring his body pleas to stop as he hasn't recovered yet.

"Oh, you can still move? Impressive. Buchi!" Kuro yelled at Buchi, who nodded as he charged over to him and unsheathed his claws.

"Don't get in the way..." Zoro says, suddenly appearing beside Buchi as he gave him a sucker punch that sends him flying away. "...we're..." Zoro says before leaping towards Buchi as he pins him down, and pointed his swords at his neck. "...in a hurry. You've messed around enough! I won't kill you if you just lie down quietly." Zoro says with a sadistic grin as Buchi whimpered in fear and stood still just as Usopp suddenly freezes and fell down.

"Usopp!" Luffy yelled worriedly as Usopp cursed.

"Damm! I can't move my body anymore!" Usopp yells as Kuro laughed.

"You're a joke! It's probably safer for you to lie down here, anyway. Even if you can catch up with Jango, your still no match for him," Kuro says with another laugh as tears run down Usopp's face, and he gritted his teeth as he looked up at Kuro.

"Even if I'm no match for him...I'll still protect them!" Usopp shouted, surprising Kuro and the Strawhats. "I will protect them all!"

"Usopp..." Zoro says while looking at him as Buchi took the distraction to push him off as he flung him to the cliff.

"I'm the Captain of the Usopp Pirates! I'm a brave warrior of the sea! I won't let you hurt the villagers!" Usopp shouted passionately as the Black Cat Pirates stared at him for a few seconds before laughing as Asher and Luffy slowly turned to them with emotionless looks.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Look at him spouting crap!"

"He's so pathetic! Check it out, he's crying!"

"Brave warrior of the sea, my ass!" All of the pirates shouted before screaming in pain as both Luffy and Asher grabbed a giant boulder, and the Bomb Man infused his pink aura around it as they then slammed it on top of the Black Cat Pirates, and Asher set it off as a big explosion occurred that sends the pirates flying to the beach, near their ship.

"What's so damm funny, huh?!" Asher asked, looking absolutely livid as Luffy had a calm, yet furious look on his face.

"If you dare laugh at Usopp again, we will kill you all!" Luffy yelled, causing the pirates to piss their pants in fear as they nodded and kept their mouth shuts as they cried like pansies.

"Hey, Buchi," Zoro says to Buchi casually while blocking his attacks as the swordsman narrowed his eyes at him. "I thought I warned you to get out of my way already!" Zoro shouted before pushing him off as he then charged at him and cut his stomach as Buchi cried out in pain, and blood spilled out his stomach as it stained the beach. "Luffy! I'm going to take Usopp and go after that bastard hypnotist! Is that a problem?"

"Nope! Hurry!" Luffy shouted, still pissed off as Zoro turned to Asher.

"Asher, you want to come?" He asked as Asher shakes his head.

"No, I want to deal with that Kuro bastard, but you can take Cottontail along for backup." He says as Zoro sighed tiredly.

"Fine, whatever. Follow me, rat." Zoro says while walking over to Usopp as he grabbed him, and made his way up the slope.

"Thanks." Usopp says to Zoro, who rolled his eyes.

"I will go a lot faster if I went in alone, but I don't know those woods, so if we're going to catch up to them then I'm going to need your help," Zoro says as Usopp nodded, and they walked past Kuro, who stops them with his claws.

"Hold it, you two. Who gave you the permission to pass this hill?"

"I did!" Luffy yelled out as he stretched out his fist and threw a punch at Kuro, who dodged it as Asher leaps up and pulls out his shurikens.

"Go, guys!" Asher yells before throwing his glowing pink shurikens at Kuro, who leaped up to dodge them, only to grunt in surprise as the shurikens blew up and the shockwave of the blast sends him flying through the air.

"On it!" Zoro yelled before running into the forest with Usopp as Cottontail followed after them.

"Come here!" Luffy yelled while grabbing Kuro with his stretched out arm as he brought him in to throw another punch, only to punch air as Kuro composed himself, and disappeared from sight. "He disappeared!?" Luffy says before freezing up as he ducks down just as Kuro appears as he slashes him.

**"Gomu Gomu No...Spear!"** Luffy yelled as he dropped down to the floor in a headstand and joined his feet together as he then thrust them at Kuro like a spear, but missed as he disappeared again.

"Damm, where did he go?" Asher asked while landing on the ground as Kuro appears behind him.

"Behind you!" Luffy shouted as Asher ducks down and winced as he saw that Kuro had cut off his eyepatch, and gritted his teeth in anger as he saw it fall on the ground.

"Dammit! My eyepatch! Do you know how long it's going to take for me to get a new one!?" Asher asked, annoyed as Kuro jumps back a couple of feet.

"Whoa, so that's how your eye looks like under that eyepatch," Luffy says, noticing a gaping hole where Asher's right eye and tried to poke it.

"Don't touch it, you asshole!" Asher yelled angrily while slapping his hand away as Kuro coughed.

"Before I kill you brats, I feel compelled to ask. What are a couple of outsiders like you budding into this village business for?" Kuro asked as the kids smirked.

"I have a friend in the village that I don't wanna see die." Luffy says as Asher nodded.

"Yeah, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to fight a real human being for once, so this is going to be interesting." Asher says while cracking his knuckles as Kuro smirked deviously.

"Heh, what simple reasons...are you two really okay with that? After all, it will be the reason you both will die."

"Yep, but I'm not gonna die, though!" Luffy says with a laugh as Asher nodded.

"Yeah, and I just started my adventure, so it will pretty suck if I die now, especially to the likes of you." Asher says with a smirk as Kuro smirked back.

"We'll see about that!" Kuro shouted as Luffy went into action and stretched out his arms as he grabbed Kuro by his shoulders. Grinning, Luffy pulled himself over to the former pirate as he was about to deliver a double kick, but Kuro managed to evade it by grabbing onto Luffy's arm and twirled him around as he slammed the Rubber Man into a tree.

**"Gomu Gomu No...Whip..."** Luffy says while recovering from being slammed against a tree as he drops down, and extended his leg as it reached towards Kuro, who leaped up to avoid it just as Luffy planned. **"And...Pistol!"** Luffy shouted as Kuro once again dodged his attack easily and landed on his outstretched arm as he smirked at the surprised Luffy.

"This is quite boring. Give me a real-"

**"Bomu Bomu No...Missile Strike!"** Asher screamed while launching himself over to Kuro like a missile as the former pirate reacted quickly and leaped over Asher, who grabbed on to Luffy's hand as he infused him with a pink aura.

"Oh! This feels tingly!" Luffy says while staring at his hand in slight awe as Asher turns to him with a grin.

"Hey, Captain! Let's combo attack this pussy cat!" He yelled as Luffy grinned back and nodded.

"Right!" Luffy shouted as Asher held out his hand and set off an explosion that sent him and Luffy spirling through the air as they spun around like a propeller.

**"Gomu-Bomu No...Bomb Stamp!"** Luffy and Asher shouted in unison as Asher slammed Luffy onto the ground with him growing out his feet a bit as they produced an explosive shockwave that pushed back Kuro and sends him flying to a tree as he slams against, and cracked the tree as it fell down.

"Ugh." Kuro groans while rubbing his back as he shakily stood up and glared at the boys as they landed on the ground, and smirked at him.

"They have Captain Kuro on the wraps!"

"Oh, no!"

"Don't worry, Captain Kuro, you can kill them!" Various pirates screamed as Kuro's eye twitched, and he turned to his former crew angrily.

"Shut up! Don't call me by that name!" Kuro screamed in outrage, confusing the dumb pirates. "Do you morons still not get it?! You fools! This whole plan was devised, so that I may be rid of that name, once and for all! I'm tired...of devising plans every day for you men who only care about mayhem...being relentlessly attacked by the government dogs and bounty hunters...I AM ABSOLUTELY SICK OF IT ALL! I HATE BEING A PIRATE!" Kuro shouted at the top of his lungs, causing Luffy and Asher to gasp and narrow their eyes at him as he begins explaining how he came up with the plan, and how it came to fruition, but the boys weren't listening to him as they stared at him furiously.

"...and when my plan succeeds, my goal will be fully achieved, wealth and peace of mind will be mine!" Kuro finished as he then turned to the boys, who were staring at him silently as the former captain smirked at them. "Do you understand, brats? I've spent three years making sure this plan of mine will work, and I'm not going to let you two ruin it!" Kuro yelled furiously as he charged over to the teens to slash them, but Luffy reacted quickly as he stretched out his hands and grabbed a nearby boulder as he then proceeds to use it as a shield, and Kuro accidentally stabbed it with one of his claw gauntlets. "Seems you can do more than just stretch!" Kuro says to Luffy mockingly as he grinned back at him.

"That's right! I've toughened myself up to be a pirate!" Luffy yelled as Asher appeared and grabbed the boulder with one hand as he yanked it up, ripping out Kuro's claws as the former pirate gasped in shock, and flinched as he saw Asher glaring at him.

"And he wasn't the only one! I've spent a decade perfecting my body and my Devil Fruit to become a real pirate! But if you can't handle being pirate..." Asher says before infusion his Devil Fruit magic onto the boulder as he then swung it over to a scared Kuro. "...THEN DON'T BECOME A PIRATE, DIPSHIT!" Asher screamed as he slammed the boulder onto his body while setting off a huge explosion that destroyed the boulder, and sends Kuro flying to the cliff as he cracked the wall behind him and fell down as his injured body was covered in bruises, burns, and blood.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Luffy says proudly before turning to an extremely hurt Kuro as he smirked at him. "Our ambition is much better than yours, Captain Kuro." Luffy says mockingly as Kuro glared at him weakly, but didn't do anything as he was still too hurt to move. Meanwhile, elsewhere, we see Kaya and the little veggies hiding behind a giant log as Jango was still out looking for them while cutting down trees in his wake.

"Come out! Come out! Where ever you are!?" Jango's voice rang out, spooking the group as they trembled in fear.

"Go East! East! I said, go East, already!" Usopp yelled at Zoro, who was running at the west side of the forest with an exasperated Cottontail flying above them.

"Fine! Where is East!?"

"On your right!"

"But that's where we came from!"

"That's left, you dingus!"

_"Oh, for the love of-I got to help this idiot."_ Cottontail says as he swoops in and bit on Zoro's ear as he pulled him towards the right direction.

"Hey, let me go, you dumb rat!" Zoro yelled as Cottontail ignored him and continued pulling towards the East side of the forest. Back with the group, we see Kaya trying to catch her breath from the long run as she laid her head on the log and gave the boys a guilty look.

"I'm sorry, boys, but I can't keep going. Go on ahead and leave me. Save yourselves." Kaya says as the kids shook their heads.

"No way! We're here to protect you, Miss Kaya, under our Captain Orders." Carrot says firmly before panicking as he and the others saw Kaya's face pale as she looks to be struggling to catch her breath. "What's going on, Miss Kaya? Are you hurt? We must take her to the doctors, you guys."

"Idiot! Don't you realize that we're running for our lives right now?" Pepper says.

"But it's too dangerous to let her go on." Onion says as Carrot grips his shovel tightly, and gained a determined look.

"Then, as the Usopp Pirates, we must take a stand!" Carrot says with the others nodded just as Jango appeared as he cuts down the log they were hiding behind, and smirked at the terrified children.

"There you are." He says as the kids screamed. Meanwhile, elsewhere, we see Luffy and Asher looking over at the non-moving Kuro victoriously as they smirked.

"Now, you only have five of those weird claws left." Luffy says as Kuro continues to remain silent.

"That kid broke Captain Kuro's 'Clat Claw'!"

"And the other kid smashed the boulder against the captain's body and blew it up!"

"It's amazing that Captain Kuro wasn't blown into pieces by that attack!"

"Come on, guys, there's no need to worry! Captain Kuro still has five claws left! That's plenty enough! Kill those brats, Captain Kuro!"

"Hey! That name is taboo now!"

"Oh, right, sorry...uh, what is he called now?"

"I think it was Klaha...something."

"Klaha...something...yeah! Get them, Klaha-something!" All of the pirates then proceed to cheer as Kuro shakily stood up with his body still banged up as he glared at the screaming pirates.

"Shut, your mouths! All of you!" He yelled, causing them to shut up as Kuro glared at them. "After this is all done, all of you will die...including, Jango!" He declared, causing his former crew to flinch back in surprise as they gave him confused/scared looks.

"W-Why us, Captain?!"

"Please, stop joking around, Captain Kuro!"

"It's still not too late for us to attack the village, right?!"

"Yeah, and if Captain Jango gets that rich girl from earlier to write her will, the plan will still work perfectly!"

"This plan is no longer your concern," Kuro says while adjusting his glasses as he smirked. "When you are all dead, the village will know who to blame for this atrocity. I never intended for any of you mongrels to leave this village alive. No one and I mean no one, who knows my real identity could be alive to live to tell about it!"

"N-No, way! You were planning to kill us from the start?" A pirate asked nervously as Kuro smirked and nodded.

"Three years ago, I planned to erase, Captain Kuro, and every last person who ever knew him, it's all part of my plan." Kuro says with an evil chuckle.

"You guys are dumb." Luffy says bluntly while shaking his head in disappointment as Asher turned to Kuro and glared at him.

"You're a poor excuse of a pirate." Asher says as Kuro glared back at him.

"It's that supposed to hurt me? I'm glad to not be compared to these collections of social outcasts! Without my plans, what could these simpletons possibly do?! A crew is nothing to me, they are simply a means to an end. Crew members are just pawns at a Captain's game. Whether my men live or die, it's up to me and me alone. If I tell them to fight, they will fight. If I order them to jump, they will ask, 'How high?'. And they know the punishment for disobedience." Kuro says with a smirk before frowning as he noticed that the boys were once again staring at him silently. "What? Why are you guys staring at me like that?"

"..."

"What? You think staring at me is going to make me feel bad for my actions?"

"..."

"Because it's not working!"

"..."

"I'm serious!"

"..."

"Grr!"

"..."

"Stop, mocking me! This is how pirates are, you idiots! Don't you dare talk down to me, you foolish children!" Kuro screamed out furiously as he was about to attack them, but stopped as the teens spoke up.

"No matter how many hundreds or thousands of men follow you as their Captain...you'll never be better than Usopp!" Luffy says as Kuro stared at him in disbelief.

"What?" He asked as Asher nodded.

"Hmm-hmm! Usopp is way better than you at being a pirate. There's no comparison." Asher says matter-of-factly as Kuro blinks before gritting his teeth as he snarled at the teenagers.

"What!? Are you saying that I'm inferior to a kid pretending to be a pirate Captain!?"

"That's right."

"Yep."

"...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Well, aren't you funny?! Don't get cocky just because you snapped one of my claws, and smashed a boulder on my head!" Kuro says before disappearing from sight as he appears behind the young pirates. "How exactly am I inferior to him?" Kuro asked with a sadistic grin as he was about to cut down the boys, but stopped as he saw the boys grinning.

"Because he has character." Luffy and Asher said in unison.

"What?!"

"A guy like you doesn't know what a _true_ pirate is!" The boys shouted as Luffy brought back his fist and stretched out as he grabbed Kuro's by his neck and flung the former pirate back to him as Asher then clotheslines him to the floor while setting off an explosion as Kuro let out a painful, gut-wrenching scream.

"No way! Those boys kept up with the 'Silent Step' maneuver!" A pirate shouted as the boys then turned to Kuro, who was really injured at that point as his neck was bruised, he lost one of his teeth, half of his hair was blown away, and his shirt was ripped apart.

"You insult me, brats," Kuro says calmly while stepping out of the crater he was in, albeit shakily, as he glared at the boys. "If you want to know about real pirates that much, I will be happy to oblige. For our first lesson, I will show you what real terror looks like. A lesson I learned very as I stared Death in its face, time and time again!" Kuro says before suddenly freezing up as he hunched back, and begins waving back and forth slightly as his former crewmates screamed in absolute terror.

"WAH! THAT STANCE!"

"THIS IS BAD!"

"WHY IS HE USING _THAT_ TECHNIQUE! HE'S ONLY FIGHTING TWO GUYS! THERE'S NO REASON TO USE THE, 'OUT OF THE BACK ATTACK!'."

"ISN'T IT BAD FOR US TO BE HERE!? HE'LL GET US, TOO!"

"Y-YEAH, HE DID PLAN TO KILL US TOO, REMEMBER?!"

"PLEASE, CAPTAIN KURO! ANYTHING, BUT _THAT_ TECHNIQUE!"

"WE'LL DO ANYTHING! PLEASE, CAPTAIN!"

_"This technique must be powerful if it's causing these weaklings to panic that much."_ Asher thought mentally before feeling cold shiver travel down his spine as he turned around, and was surprised to see that Kuro disappeared. "Huh? Where did he-"

**"Out of the Back Attack!"** Kuro's voice rang out as a small purple gas rang out across the slope.

"Ah, how disappointing. I spent the last two hours looking for treasure, and they only have this stuff." Nami says while walking across the deck as she was carrying a rather small bag filled with treasure. Sighing in disappointment, Nami continued walking as she walked past the still knocked Sham and reached the end of the deck, overlooking the slope. "I wonder if the battle is over." Nami says curiously as she looks down and was confused to see everyone froze up. "Huh. I wonder why-" She says before her eyes widen as she saw that one of the pirates was suddenly slashed apart as his entrails and blood rain down on his frightened crewmates.

"What's he doing over there!?" Luffy asked in shock while Asher remained silent as he stared at the dead corpse of the pirate in utter disbelief/horror, and was even more in shock as more and more pirates were seen either having their throats slip, cut in half, or worse!

"Whoa!" Asher says while backing his head away as a shockwave blew past him, and cut the wall beside him in two as his eyes widen in surprise. "What the!?"

"That guy's everywhere!" Luffy shouted as more and more men were killed by their backstabbing captain.

"DON'T DO THIS, CAPTAIN! PLEASE, STOOOoooooooo..." Blonde Pirate screamed before trailing off as his head was cut off, and it fell down on the ground, lifeless.

"IT'S NO USE! WHEN USING HIS 'SILENT STEP' MANEUVER, NOT EVEN _HE_ KNOWS WHERE HE'S GOING! HE WON'T STOP UNTIL HE'S TIRED, OR WE ARE ALL DEEEeeeeaaaadd..." Small pirate trailed as he was cut in two, and both sides of his lifeless body fell down as massive amounts of blood spewed out.

"W-What's happening out there!? Those people are getting slaughtered!" Nami yelled with a terrified, haunted look as she continued watching Kuro cut down his men one by one until only 10 men were remaining...oh, now it's 8.

"Stop it..." Asher says while getting a cut on his shoulder, but didn't even flinch as he was shaking in anger. "...this isn't right..." Asher says as he got slashed at his back, but once again, he didn't flinch.

"Show yourself...butler!" Luffy equally as furious as he was getting cuts left and right, but he took it like a champ as he gritted his teeth.

"You are all supposed to be like family...stop this madness...NOW!" Asher yelled out at the top of his lungs with his body glowing pink as pink soundwaves came out of his mouth and blown up the area around them, demolishing the slope as the boys spotted a surprised, scorched Kuro flying through the sky.

"YOU, BASTARD!" Luffy and Asher yelled in absolute fury while leaping towards him as Kuro gasped in fear at seeing their livid, red faces. "DON'T YOU HAVE ANY HONOR!? THOSE PEOPLE ARE YOUR FRIENDS/FAMILY!"

"Luffy...Asher..." Nami says softly as the boys reached Kuro, and reared back their fists.

**"GOMU GOMU NO...PISTOL!"** Luffy yelled as he launched his fist at Kuro like a pistol, and punched him so hard that he sends him flying to the floor as the ground below him crack, and he coughed out blood.

**"BOMU BOMU NO...EXPLOSIVE...BOMB SLAM!"** Asher shouted as he used his bomb powers to launch himself towards Kuro, who screamed in fear at the sight of the furious teen as Asher formed himself into a ball, and crashed landed on Kuro's chest as he set off an explosion that shook the area lightly before dying down as Asher stood up, and narrowed his eyes at the near-beaten to death Kuro, who looks like he was about to pass out anytime soon.

"Captain Kuro, no matter what happens to us..." Luffy says while landing beside Asher as they both stared at the beaten body of Kuro in disgust. "...we will _never_ be like you," Luffy says with Asher nodding, too angry to say something as Kuro glared at them weakly before groaning as he was knocked out.

"Please, stop it! I'll write the will just stop hurting the boys!" Kaya yelled at Jango, who was beating up the children as he turned to her and smirked as he dropped a groaning Pepper, and walked over to her.

"No!"

"Miss Kaya!"

"Run!" All of the veggies yells rang out across the forest as Usopp and the others heard it, and beamed as they ran over to the direction of the screams.

"Please stop this, leave them alone, and I will write the will." Kaya says with a glare as the kid's eyes widen in fear.

"No, Kaya! He will kill you as soon as you finish writing your will!" They yelled as she gave the scared children a solemn look.

"I'm sorry." She says as Jango smirked.

"Silly girl, don't you know that you can't bargain with me? Captain Kuro _specifically _told me to get rid of _everyone. _That includes the children."

"No..." Kaya says before eyeing his ring hanging by his belt as she rushed over to him and grabbed the ring as she then pointed it at her neck. "If you don't do as I say, then you won't get to kill me, and I won't write my will, either!" Kaya says while pressing the neck closer to her neck, to the point of drawing blood as Jango panicked.

"H-Hold on! Don't act hastily! I absolutely must get you to write that will!" Jango shouted as Kaya pressed the ring closer, and he flinched as the hypnotist pirate sighs tiredly. "Alright! I'll let the brats go! Though they're really in no condition to run..." Jango says the last part quietly to himself as he walks over to Kaya, who puts down his ring as he pulls out her will from his coat. "Here." He says while handing her the will and a pen as Kaya stared it for a few seconds before sighing as she laid the will on a log, and begins writing it. "Don't forget to sign your name!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kaya says tiredly, and the little veggies could only look in horror as she writes her name on the paper. "Here." She says bitterly while handing him the paper as he snatched it, and begins reading it.

"Let's see, I leave my entire fortune, yadda, yadda, yadda, to my butler, Klahadore. Yes! Yes! Excellent! This saved me the trouble of hypnotizing you!" Jango says with a laugh as he then folded up the will and hid it in his jacket.

"Now, remember, you promised not to kill them, right?" Kaya asked.

"Oh, yeah, don't worry..." Jango says before grabbing Kaya by her neck as he then slammed her against a tree. "...I'm a man who keeps his word." He says with a grin while twirling another ring as Kara whimpered and closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable.

"KAYA!" The little veggies screamed in terror as Jango smirked and was about to decapitate the rich girl, but then-

"THERE THEY ARE!" Usopp yelled while appearing near Kaya and the others with Zoro, and Cottontail as the sniper noticed that Jango was about to kill Kaya, and his eyes widen. "OH, NO, SHE'S IN DANGER!" Usopp screamed before looking up at the flying Cottontail with a seriously. "COTTONTAIL! BUY US SOME TIME!"

_"On it!"_ Cottontail shouted as he turned right and flew straight towards Kaya and the others.

"Oh, no! They caught up to me!" Jango screamed, noticing Usopp and Zoro running towards him as he turned to Kaya and narrowed his eyes. "Then I suppose I better hurry up and-"

_"Leeeeeeeerrrrrooooyyyy Jeeeeeeeeenkkkkkkiiiiiiinnnggggssss!"_ Cottontail shouted as he flew in and landed on Jango's face as he began humping his face. _"Taste my 4-inch dick, Hypno-Freak!"_ He yelled as Jango gagged.

"AGH! GROSS! GET OFF ME YOU LITTLE-"

"USOPP PIRATES ATTACK!" The little veggies screamed as they appeared out of nowhere while holding a giant shovel as they then shoved the shovel up Jango's eyes, causing his eyes to pop out of his skull as he let out a loud painful scream.

"AAAAAAAHHHH, YOU FUCKING, RAT!" Jango screamed while grabbing on to Cottontailm as he threw him off before turning to the kids. "YOU DAMM BRATS!" Jango shouted while kicking the boys away as he then grabbed Kaya and placed her ring at her neck as he looked up at the running kids with a sadistic grin. "IT'S TOO LATE NOW, BRATS!" Jango shouted as Zoro smirked.

"Oh, yeah?" Zoro asked as he threw his sword through the air, and it cut down a tree branch.

"Why did you-"

"Thanks, Zoro! That branch was getting on my way!" Usopp shouted, from Zoro's back as he pulled out his slingshot, and aimed at the hypnotist. "Eat this, Hyonitist!" Usopp shouted as he launched the pachinko through the air and hits Jango across his forehead as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he let go of Kara as he fell back against the ground, unconscious.

"Whew, we managed to save her. That was too close." Usopp says as he and Zoro approached a trembling Kaya, and cheering children as Cottontail landed near them, and Zoro looks down at him.

"Did you shoved your dick down his throat?" Zoro asked as the small animal nodded. "Heh, you're alright, Cottontail," Zoro says with a smirk, using his name for the first time as Cottontail purred in delight. Meanwhile, with the duo, we see Luffy and Asher still glaring at Kuro as the Black Cat Pirates stared at them in disbelief/awe.

"T-They did it...they defeated, Captain Kuro! Not even the Marines have been able to catch him! Who are you two?" A pirate asked as the boys turned to them with stern glares.

"I am Monkey D. Luffy."

"And, I'm Asher D. Willis."

"The only time a pirate abandon his name is when he dies. We would never lose to a coward who ditches his name, betrays his friends, and runs from the sea!" Luffy says passionately as everyone blinked.

"Monkey D. Luffy, and Asher D. Willis? We've never heard of those names." A pirate says as Luffy and Asher smirked

"Well, you should remember our names because I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

"And I will be by his side as the Strongest Man in the world!" Asher says proudly as the pirates blinked at them in shock

"Y-You are?" He asked as they nodded.

"Yeah, now, take your shit..." Asher says while grabbing Kuro's unconscious body of Kuro as he then tossed him over to the shocked group of pirates. "...AND GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE WE BUST YOUR SKULLS!"

"AND NEVER COME BACK!" Luffy shouted as the scared group of pirates nodded and retreated back to their ship as they swam away. Luffy and Asher huffed at them before feeling dizzy as they were about to fall down, but were caught by Nami as she sets them gently on the ground.

"You two fought hard," Nami says with a small smile on her face as the boys remained silent, causing her to frown as she noticed their scarred bodies. "Man, Kuro got you guys good. By the way, why did you two get so angry like that earlier?"

"Cause, I truly hate people like them. They're so wrong" Luffy says with Asher nodding angrily as Nami scowled.

"I hate to break it to you guys, but that's how most pirates are in the world." Nami says while looking off into the distance with a faraway look on her face.

"Then, I will promise myself that no matter what, I will _never_ become like them. And, if I did, I give you guys permission to kill me." Asher says as Luffy nodded understandably, while Nami looks at the Bomb Man in surprise before smiling softly as she ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, Asher, I'm sure you will never become one of them," Nami says as Asher smiled at her.

"Thanks, Nami." He says as Nami nodded before noticing odd about him.

"Hey, where's your eyepatch?"

"It got cut off during the battle." Asher answered as Nami nodded, and then an idea popped into her head as she rummaged threw her treasure bag, and pulled out an eyepatch as she handed it to a surprised Asher.

"Here, I found this while I was looking for treasure. Thought you might need it when something like this happens." Nami says as Asher smiled and grabbed the eyepatch from her hands.

"Thanks, Nami." Asher says while putting on his new eyepatch as he smirked. "Fits like a glove!" Asher says as Nami smiled before frowning in confusion as they heard Luffy's stomach growling.

"I'm hungry." Luffy says as Nami grew angry and grabbed Luffy's hat from the ground as she suffocated him with it.

"YOU'RE UNBELIEVABLE! WE WERE HAVING A NICE MOMENT, AND THEN YOU HAVE TO RUIN IT!" Nami shouted with shark tooth as Asher laughed.

"Hey, guys. Think you can keep everything that just happened here a secret." Usopp says to his friends while Zoro and Cottontail were busy moving Jango's unconscious body around.

"What!? A secret?! But why would we do that!?" Pepper asked in total confusion.

"That's right! We fought for the village!" Carrot shouted while raising his wooden sword in the air heroically.

"Now, everyone will change their opinion about you! Instead of being 'Usopp the Liar', you will be 'Usopp the Hero'!" Onion says as Kaya turned to Usopp.

"Usopp, you need to clear up everyone's misunderstanding." She says as Usopp shakes his head with a calm smile.

"Misunderstanding? I was known as the village's liar because I lied all the time, Kaya. They were right not to believe me. Besides, there's no point in scaring people with something that's already over." Usopp says, surprising Kaya with his wise decision as he smiled at her. "And I doubt threats like Kuro and his men will show up again. There's no reason for pirates to attack our little village. So, listen up, let's all pretend this never happened, okay? It was all just one of my great big lies. Now, I won't force you to-"

"No, I can do that! If that's what best for this village!"

"Same here!"

"Me too! I won't tell a soul!" All of the little veggies promised as Usopp smiled and turned to Kaya as he gave her a serious look.

"Kaya, will it be hard for you?" He asked as Kaya smiled and shook her head as Usopp smirked before walking to find the others as he found all of them sitting on the slope, recovering from the battle. "Thanks, guys. I wouldn't have been able to protect the village without you guys."

"What are you talking about? If you just sit by and done nothing, I wouldn't have done anything either." Zoro says while resting on the floor with Cottontail sitting on his lap as the Swordsman was petting him.

"Me, too," Luffy says while still laying on the ground as he was staring at the sky.

"Me, three," Asher says while lying beside Nami, who was hugging her bag of treasure close to her chest.

"Who cares about that? I got myself some treasure!" Nami says as Asher stared at her with a sweatdrop before looking over at Zoro as he smirked at him.

"I see you and Cottontail are getting along," Asher says, causing Zoro to freeze as he looks away and coughs.

"Yeah, well, the rat had grown on me." Zoro says while still petting Cottontail as the small animal purred, and Asher smiled at him before hearing Usopp cough as everyone turned to him.

"Guys, everything that happened here has helped me finally come to a decision." Usopp says as everyone stared at him curiously.

* * *

"Captain Usopp! What did you want to talk about?" Pepper asked as he and the little veggies had arrived at their little hideout where they saw their captain sitting there with a serious look.

"You guys have fought well against those Black Cat Pirates! As Captain, I feel very proud!" Usopp says as the kids beamed and blushed in embarrassment.

"You're too kind."

"Yeah, we're nothing compared to you, Captain."

"You're embarrassing us." The little veggies says as Usopp shakes his head and stood up.

"No, you really did great! You were scared to death, but you managed to keep Kaya safe as I asked. Thanks to you, we overcame our biggest and most important battle since we formed the Usopp Pirates five years ago. That's when you three were four-years-old, remember?"

"Yep!"

"So, I know this is sudden, but I decided to go to sea by myself!" Usopp says, shocking his crewmates as the long-nosed boy looked up at the sky with a smile on his face. "I'm gonna be a real pirate!" He says with a laugh as the little veggies continued staring at him in shock/disbelief. "At first, I wasn't sure what I would do, I couldn't decide if I wanted to stay here forever or not, but once I saw them, I finally made up my mind. I know deep in my heart, what I must do..." Usopp says before trailing off as he jumped onto the log and raised his arms in the air as he smirked. "I must go out to sea because when the great pirate flag beckons, you must heed his call!" Usopp shouted into the heavens, snapping the kids of their shocked states as they stared at their captain sadly.

"Captain! Say it isn't so!"

"You're just lying again, right?!"

"Isn't that a bit hasty!? There's no reason to leave, I thought you loved this village?!"

"And, what's going to happen to the Usopp Pirates?!" Onion asked as Usopp went silent and smiled solemnly as he turned to his friends.

"You've been so good to me, guys. I planned to leave the villagers without telling them. Give them my regards."

"No..."

"I don't want to!"

"Don't go, Captain!" All of the little veggies cried out with tears in their eyes as Usopp teared up, but smirked at them as he placed his hands on hips.

"Do you remember this place? This is where we first met, and a lot has happened since that day. From fending off a cerberus, capturing a dragon, and even practicing how to use our weapons from time to time. We had a lot of good memories together, haven't we?" Usopp asked as the kids shook their heads.

"No! We don't want to hear about the old days!"

"Yeah! We don't want to hear about that!"

"This isn't like you, Captain! Why are you saying this stuff now?!"

"It's almost like you're actually planning on leaving us!" Carrot shouted as Usopp remains silent, causing the kids to cry even more as they realized that he was being serious.

"You're so stupid, Captain! Stupid!" Onion shouted while bawling with the rest of the kids as Usopp smiled at them, and entered his 'Captain Mode'.

"Alright, men! Tell me about your ambitions in life!" Usopp shouted as the kids nodded and sat up straight.

"When I grow up, I want to run a pub!" Carrot shouted.

"In my whole life, I always wanted to be a master carpenter!" Pepper screamed.

"My goal is to become a writer!" Onion yelled.

"Then swear here that you'll continue on each of your paths and never let the fires of your ambitions go out! Because as of today...the Usopp Pirates...are disbanded!" Usopp shouted while taking down his flag as the kids cried even more. Meanwhile, elsewhere, we see Asher and the gang sitting at Moshi's as they were enjoying their victory by eating.

"Man, that was good!" Luffy shouted while eating a turkey as he and Zoro were sitting on the left side of the booth while Asher and Nami were sitting on the right side with Cottontail lazily perched on Nami's shoulders.

"Well, we had our meal, defeated the big bad guy, we should probably leave now." Zoro says as Luffy burped and nodded.

"Yeah, we should." Luffy says as the doors were flung open, and the gang turned to see Kaya, wearing a brown business suit, walking towards them as everyone beamed.

"Oh, hey, Kaya." Luffy greeted as Nami gave her a worried look.

"Are you alright, being out of bed and all?" She asked as Kaya nodded.

"Yes...I think now I can truly recover. You see, my sickness this past year was caused by the mental dismay from having lost my parents, and Usopp's friendship really cheered me up, too. I couldn't stay coddled forever!" Kaya says with a cheery smile as everyone smiled back. "You've done so much for me. Thank you all."

"It was no problem, little miss." Asher says with a wink, causing her to blush slightly as Nami saw this, and for some reason, didn't like what she was seeing as she coughed.

"So, not too sound rude, but its that why you came here to see us?" Nami asked as Kaya shakes her head.

"No, I also came here to give you all a present from the bottom of my heart! I'd bee honored if you accept it."

"Cool, what's the present?" Asher asked as Kaya smirked and motioned them to follow her as they obliged.

"YOU'RE GIVING US A SHIP!?" The Straw Hats while staring at their new ship in awe as Kaya stepped forwards.

"Yes, please, use it," Kaya says just as a man suddenly appears as he smiled at the teens. The man is a tall, 32-year-old, formally dressed butler with curly white hair, two lamb-like horns on his eyes, black eyes, and lamb-like lips. His name is Merry.

"The ship is a slightly older model, but I personally design it, and she sails like a dream!" Merry says as the gang nodded while staring at the ship in awe. "She has a carvel-make caravel with lateen sails and a central stern rudder. She's a fine ship, and her name is...the Going Merry!" Merry announced as he then walked over to Luffy. "Let me explain the steering system. First of all, in order to adjust the yards in relation to the crew garnet-"

"No! No! Explain the ship stuff to me!" Nami says, noticing how lost Luffy was as the young pirate was thankful for her interference, and turned to look at the ship again as he admired the sheep-like figurehead.

"What a good ship! Especially the front, it's so cool!" Luffy says as Kaya smiled.

"We've loaded it with everything you might need on the voyage." Kaya says as Luffy smiled at her.

"Thanks! It leaves nothing to be tired!" Luffy says as Kaya stared at him confusedly.

"He means, 'Leaves nothing to be desired'," Zoro explains as Kaya nodded.

"Man, this ship is huge! It gives me plenty of enough space to train!" Asher says excitedly as he turned to Cottontail, who was sitting on his shoulder. "Don't you think so, little buddy?"

_"Most definitely! Although, please refrain from using your Devil Fruit. We don't want you to accidentally blow it up."_ Cottontail says as Asher nodded before hearing a loud yell coming from up the slope as everyone looked up and saw a screaming Usopp rolling down the slope as he was carrying a huge green bag.

"SOMEBODY STOP THIS THING!"

"Usopp!" Kaya yells worriedly as Asher turned to Cottontail.

"Go, save him." He says as Cottontail nodded and flew off as he formed himself into a giant net that caught a grateful Usopp, and formed himself back to normal.

"Thanks, little buddy." Usopp says dizzily as he nodded and flew back to his owner's shoulders as Kaya walked up to Usopp, and gave him a sad frown.

"So, you're really doing it? You're going to take to the ocean?" Kaya asked as Usopp nodded with a serious look on his face.

"Yeah. I decided to get going before I start to change my mind. Please, don't stop me." Usopp says as Kaya smiled and shook her head.

"I won't. I know it's time for you to go. It really makes me sad, though." She says as Usopp turned to her with a smile.

"Kaya, don't be sad about it! Just think, the next time I come back here, I will tell you adventure stories that seem even more lie-like than lies!" He says as Kaya smiled softly and leans in to kiss his cheek.

"Good. I look forward too it. Take care, Usopp." Kaya says to a shocked Usopp before walking away with Merry as Usopp watched her go with a blushing smile, and turned to Luffy and the others, who were already boarded on the ship.

"You guys take care, too! Let's meet again sometime!" Usopp shouted as the Straw Hats stared at him confusedly.

"How come?"

"Huh? 'How come?' Man, your antisocial, I'm gonna be a pirate too, so we'll meet on the high seas eventually!" Usopp shouted as everyone stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"What are you talking about? Get on already." Zoro says bluntly.

"Eh!?"

"We're friends now, aren't we?" Luffy asked Usopp, who nodded as Asher popped in with a smile.

"So, come join us on the Going Merry, and become a Straw Hat like us!" Asher says cheerfully as Usopp stared at them with his jaw dropped before grinning madly as he leaped in the air and cheered.

"WHOO-HOO, YES! AND I GET TO BE THE CAPTAIN, RIGHT!?"

"HELL NO! I'M THE CAPTAIN!" Luffy yelled with white eyes and shark tooth as everyone laughed. After a few minutes of Luffy screaming at Usopp that he wasn't the Captain, the gang had finally set off on their new ship with the little veggies watching them go sadly from their hideout.

"There goes the captain." Carrot murmurs sadly as the others sigh.

"Yeah, but he's with those guys, so I feel less worried now." Onion says as Pepper nodded.

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone as strong as them before, so Captain would be alright." He says as Carrot chuckled.

"He always talked about becoming a pirate, and now he is heading off to live his dreams."

"Yeah, but now the villagers are going to be sad when they find out that he left." Pepper says as Onion sighs.

"Our Captain was the only one who could lighten things up around here, but now he's gone." He says with the others nodded somberly, but then Pepper perked up as a lightbulb appeared over his head.

"Hey! I just got an idea! Follow me!" Pepper says before running off as the others followed.

"They were certainly a pleasant group." Merry says while standing with Kaya at a cliff as they were watching the Going Merry sail off to sea.

"Merry."

"Yes, Miss Kaya?"

"Lying hurts." Kaya says with a depressed look as Merry turned to her curiously.

"Are you referring to Klahadore?"

"No..." Kaya says bluntly as Merry smiled at her.

"Oh, then you mean when you wanted to stop Usopp, but refrain from doing so because you knew that he wanted to go?" He asked as she nodded sadly. "Miss Kaya, the villagers once told me a story from his childhood," Merry says as Kaya looked up to him curiously. "Shortly after Usopp's father left the village, his mother had fallen ill. From that day, Usopp started shouting, 'Pirates were coming!' in the hopes that his father will someday come back to help her, but sadly, his plan didn't work, and she passed away."

"Perhaps out of loneliness, he continues shouting it in the hope that one day his father does return home, ready to take him away to sea and give him a family that he never had. The villagers said that was the reason for his lies. And as someone who had lost his own family couldn't bear to see you hurt, so he decided to try and cheer you up as he saw you as a kindred spirit, and he couldn't sit back and watch your suffering anymore." Merry says as Kaya smiled softly and teared up as she looked off into the ocean.

"Usopp..." Kaya says with a blush on her face as Merry turned to her with a smirk.

"Now, it's time for you two to rise from the ashes of tragedy and live up to the example that Usopp worked so hard to set!" Merry exclaimed as Kaya nodded, and grew a determined look on her face as she nodded.

"You're right, Merry! No more being coddled! I'm going to be a doctor!" Kaya stated firmly as Merry grinned proudly.

"CHEERS TO OUR NEW SHIP AND CREWMATE!" Luffy shouted as he was having a celebratory drink with the gang, who cheered as well as they chugged down their drinks.

"Here we go!" Pepper says to his friends while standing near the entrance of the village as they were giving each other serious looks.

"Are we really gonna do this?!" Carrot asked as Pepper nodded.

"You bet! We're following in our Captain's footsteps!" He says as the others nodded. "Okay, on the count of three. One..."

"Two..."

"Three!" The little veggies shouted as they began running towards the village.

"PIRATES ARE HERE!"

"PIRATES ARE HERE!"

"PIRATES ARE HERE!" All of the veggies shouted as they entered the village and ran around the streets, alerting the excited and happy villagers as they continued carrying on their captain's legacy.

* * *

**And done! I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I can't wait to write the next one!**

**Anyway, as always, I will catch you all later.**


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